r 


LIFE 


OF 


BENJAMIN  F.  BUTLER 


BY 

T.    A.    BLAND,    M.D. 


BOSTON: 
LEE   AND   SHEPARD,  PUBLISHERS. 

NEW  YORK: 

CHARLES   T.  DILLINGHAM. 
1879. 


COPYRIGHT,  1879, 
BY    T.    A.    BLAND. 

AU  rights  reserved. 


TO 

THE    FRIENDS 

OF 

LIBERTY,   EQUALITY,   AND    JUSTICE, 

WHEREVER   FOUND, 

®f)ts  Booft  is  Stncerelg  facrt&eti, 

BY 

THE   AUTHOR. 


M193211 


INTRODUCTION. 


TJIOGRAPHY  is  the  meat  and  marrow  of  history.  Elimi- 
-L)  nate  personality  from  the  chronicles  of  a  nation,  and 
they  would  disappear  from  active  society. 

What  to  us  were  a  history  of  Greece,  without  a  record  of 
the  lives  of  Socrates,  of  Pericles,  and  Xenophon ;  of  Rome, 
without  Caesar,  Cicero,  and  Seneca;  of  England,  without 
Shakspeare,  Cromwell,  and  Newton  j  or  of  America,  without 
Washington,  Franklin,  Lincoln,  and  other  immortal  spirits 
whose  courage  and  wisdom  laid  the  foundations  of  this 
grand  Republic,  and  whose  statesmanship  and  patriotism 
have  preserved  it? 

The  virtues  are  but  glittering  generalities,  beautiful  abstrac 
tions,  not  active  forces,  until  incarnated  in  human  form. 
Men  endowed  with  intelligence,  patriotism,  integrity,  philan 
thropy,  courage,  in  large  measure,  are  by  that  fact  ordained 
representatives  of  grand  ideas,  accepted  leaders  of  their  fel 
lows  ;  and  when  the  times  are  right  for  a  bold  forward  march 
in  the  never-ending  campaign  of  progress,  or  a  vigorous 
assault  upon  the  ever-existing  strongholds  of  injustice  and 
oppression,  the  masses  find  their  leaders,  and  follow  them  to 
victory. 


2  INTRODUCTION. 

Now  it  is  Leonidas,  at  the  pass  of  Thermopylae,  holding 
back  the  myriad  hosts  of  Persia,  through  the  patriotic  cour 
age  of  three  hundred  men,  who  recognize  him  as  the  em 
bodied  hope  of  Spartan  liberty.  Again  it  is  Tell,  defying  the 
arrogance  of  Gessler,  in  the  name  of  the  freedom-loving  sons 
of  Switzerland.  Anon  it  is  Cromwell,  leading  the  Puritan 
armies  to  the  overthrow  of  the  Stuart  dynasty  in  the  name  of 
justice  and  religion.  Then  it  is  Washington,  marshalling  the 
patriot  hosts  of  America  against  the  hired  minions  of  George 
the  Third.  These  men  were  the  chosen  executors  of  the  will 
of  God,  the  instruments  by  which  he  delivered  his  people 
from  bondage. 

The  foes  of  liberty,  justice,  and  equality ;  the  Tory  element 
in  American  society ;  the  men  who  believe  in  the  aristocracy 
of  wealth,  and  the  right  of  the  rich  to  rule  and  rob  the  poor ; 
those  who  hold  that  moneyed  men  and  rich  corporations 
should  control  the  finances  of  the  country,  and  that  all  legis 
lation  upon  this  important  subject  ought  to  be  dictated  by 
bankers  and  brokers,  —  these,  taking  advantage  of  the  honest 
and  unsuspecting  people,  while  they  were  settling  the  ques 
tion  of  negro-slavery  by  the  sword,  intrenched  themselves 
in  the  strongholds  of  the  Government.  They  bribed  the 
venal  and  deceived  the  ignorant  public  men,  to  such  an  ex 
tent,  that  Congress,  the  Supreme  Court,  and  the  President 
became  their  slaves.  They  have  ordained  the  platforms  of 
both  the  Republican  and  Democratic  parties  for  the  past 
fifteen  years,  and  dictated  the  policy  of  each  succeeding  ad 
ministration.  Under  their  selfish  manipulation,  the  govern- 


INTRODUCTION.  3 

ment  has  been  practically  subverted,  and  justice,  the  parent 
of  liberty,  is  no  longer  a  guide  to  the  nation.  The  produ 
cing  and  enterprising  classes  are  taxed  to  support  a  privileged 
class  of  untaxed,  non-producing  capitalists,  as  well  as  to  sus 
tain  a  large  standing  army  whose  chief  excuse  for  existence 
is  that  it  may  protect  the  grasping  and  arrogant  few  against 
the  possible  vengeance  of  a  plundered  and  oppressed  people. 
And,  while  thus  heavily  burdened,  our  property  is  depre 
ciated,  and  our  debts  correspondingly  increased,  by  the 
deliberate  action  of  Congress,  and  the  Secretary  of  the  Treas 
ury,  through  the  contraction  of  the  currency.  The  men  of 
enterprise  are  thus  bankrupted,  the  wage-laborers  brought  to 
the  verge  of  famine,  and  the  farmers  are  rapidly  sinking  from 
the  comfortable  state  of  independent  yeomen,  to  that  of 
tenants  at  will. 

The  groans  of  the  oppressed  fill  the  air ;  the  prayers  of 
the  poor  ascend  to  Heaven ;  and  the  demand  for  justice  is 
taking  shape  in  the  form  of  a  new  party  of  the  people. 
Among  the  representatives  of  this  new  party,  Gen.  Benjamin 
F.  Butler  stands  out  as  the  great  leader,  —  the  man  who,  of 
all  men  in  this  country,  combines  the  qualities  of  a  leader 
such  as  is  demanded  by  the  exigencies  of  the  times ;  a  large 
brain,  untiring  energy,  unswerving  integrity,  indomitable  will, 
dauntless  courage,  independence  of  character :  a  man  of 
intellectual  power  and  executive  force ;  a  man  who  has  con 
victions,  and  dares  maintain  them  ;  a  man  who  can  be  held 
to  the  support  of  a  party  only  so  long  as  it  represents  the 
principles  which  won  his  allegiance ;  a  man  who  prefers 


4  INTRODUCTION. 

defeat  in  the  right,  to  success  in  the  wrong ;  a  man  whose 
personal,  political,  and  military  record  invites  criticism,  and 
defies  slander,  and  whose  personal  popularity  is  such  as  to 
make  his  name  a  tower  of  strength  among  the  honest  masses. 
It  is  such  a  man  whose  brilliant  yet  unfinished  career  is 
briefly  sketched  in  this  volume. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PAGE 

ANCESTRY,  BIRTHPLACE,  AND  BOYHOOD 7 

CHAPTER  II. 
His  CAREER  AS  A  LAWYER 12 

CHAPTER  III. 
GEN.  BUTLER'S  POLITICAL  RECORD  BEFORE  THE  WAR  .       .      18 

CHAPTER  IV. 
GEN.  BUTLER'S  RECORD  AS  A  SOLDIER 36 

CHAPTER  V. 
THE  CAPTURE  OF  BALTIMORE 43 

CHAPTER  VI. 
GEN.  BUTLER  is  PROMOTED  TO  MAJOR-GENERAL,  AND  PUT  IN 

COMMAND  OF  FORTRESS  MONROE 49 

CHAPTER  VII. 
THE  CAPTURE  OF  NEW  ORLEANS 67 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
GEN.  BUTLER'S  CAREER  IN  NEW  ORLEANS      ....      72 

CHAPTER   IX. 

GEN.  BUTLER  GIVES  EMPLOYMENT  TO  THE  POOR,  THUS  PRE 
VENTING  BOTH  FAMINE  AND  PESTILENCE  ....      86 


6  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  X. 

PAGE 

GEN.  BUTLER  AND  THE  SECESSIONIST  WOMEN  OF  NEW  OR 
LEANS  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  «  .96 

CHAPTER  XL 
THE  EXECUTION  BY  HANGING  OF  W.  B.  MUMFORD       .        „   101 

CHAPTER  XII. 

GEN.  BUTLER  IN  THE  ROLE  OF  A  DIPLOMAT.  —  HE  PROVES 
MORE  THAN  A  MATCH  FOR  THE  FOREIGN  CONSULS  .  .  IO5 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
GEN.  BUTLER  MAKES  AN  EFFORT  TO  RESTORE  CONFIDENCE 

AND  PROSPERITY  THROUGHOUT  THE  STATE       .       .       .no 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

TAKING  THE  OATH  OF  ALLEGIANCE.  —  THE  PEOPLE  OF  NEW 
ORLEANS  REQUIRED  TO  DEFINE  THEIR  POSITION.  —  MORE 
TROUBLE  WITH  THE  CONSULS,  ETC.  .  «,  .  .  .  .125 

CHAPTER  XV. 

GEN.  BUTLER  DEALING  WITH  THE  NEGRO-QUESTION.  —  GEN. 
PHELPS  THINKS  HIM  AN  OLD  HUNKER  ON  THE  SUBJECT, 
AND  RESIGNS.  —  PRESIDENT  LINCOLN'S  PRIVATE  ORDERS 
TO  GEN.  BUTLER,  THE  SECRET  OF  HIS  POLICY,  ETC.  .  131 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
GEN.  BUTLER  TAKES  COMMAND  OF  THE  ARMY  OF  THE  JAMES. 

—  His  CAREER  BEFORE  RICHMOND    .        .       .       .        .     144 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
GEN.  BUTLER  AS  A  FINANCIAL  REFORMER       .       .       .       .161 

CHAPTER   XVIII. 
GEN.  BUTLER  AS  A  FRIEND  OF  THE  WORKING-CLASSES  .       .17? 

CHAPTER  XIX. 
GEN.  BUTLER'S  CAMPAIGN  FOR  GOVERNOR  IN  1878        .       .    185 

CHAPTER   XX. 
CONCLUSION  .....       •  ".    .       •       •       •       •    *94 


LIFE  OF  BENJAMIN  F.  BUTLER. 


CHAPTER   I. 

ANCESTRY,    BIRTHPLACE,    AND    BOYHOOD. 

IF  ancestry  and  birth  determine  one's  national  and 
provincial  status,  Gen.  Butler  is  a  full-blooded 
American  Yankee. 

His  grandfather,  Zephania  Butler,  was  a  native 
of  Connecticut,  and  commanded  a  company  during 
the  War  of  Independence ;  and  the  sword  of  this 
old  Continental  hero  now  hangs  in  the  library  of 
the  general  at  Lowell. 

His  paternal  grandmother,  a  daughter  of  Col. 
Cilley  of  Revolutionary  memory,  belonged  to  the 
distinguished  New  Hampshire  family  of  that  name. 

His  mother,  Charlotte  Elison,  was  the  daughter  of 
Richard  Elison  from  the  North  of  Ireland,  whose 
ancestors  settled  in  New  Hampshire  at  once  after 
the  battle  of  the  Boyne,  wherein  one  took  part. 
There  is  no  question  about  the  general's  coming  of 
patriotic  fighting-stock. 

Capt  John  Butler  of  Deerfield,  N.H.,  father  of 
Gen.  Butler,  commanded  a  cavalry  company  in  the 

7 


8  LIFE   OF   BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

war  of  1812,  and  was  with  Gen.  Jackson,  being  sent 
to  him  before  the  battle  of  New  Orleans.  After  the 
war  he  took  to  the  sea  as  a  West-India  trader,  and 
died  of  yellow-fever  on  board  his  vessel  in  1819. 
His  fortune  was  chiefly  in  his  ship  and  cargo,  and 
but  little  of  it  ever  reached  his  widow  and  children. 
Hence  upon  the  intelligence,  energy,  and  virtue  of 
the  mother  depended  the  fate  of  the  two  sons,  An 
drew  Jackson  and  Benjamin  Franklin  Butler;  the 
latter  being  at  the  time  of  his  father's  death  but 
five  months  old,  he  having  first  seen  the  light  at 
Deerfield,  N.H.,  Nov.  5,  1818.  The  future  hero  was 
a  small,  sickly,  quiet,  but  very  studious  boy.  He 
took  to  books  naturally.  His  passion  for  study  was 
so  great  that  he  devoured  and  digested  all  the  books 
and  pamphlets  in  the  town.  The  Bible  was  the 
favorite  book  with  his  mother,  and  Benjamin  de 
lighted  her  heart  by  committing  large  portions  of 
it  to  memory ;  but  so  he  did  the  history  of  the  Rev 
olution,  and  many  other  favorite  books,  of  prose  and 
poetry. 

If  current  legends  are  to  be  credited,  his  studious 
habits  did  not  prevent  his  engaging  in  the  active 
sports  of  boyhood.  It  is  also  stated  on  excellent 
authority,  that,  though  small  and  sickly,  he  won  many 
a  victory  over  larger  boys,  in  the  bloody  battles  of 
the  street  and  playground.  He  seldom  or  never 
fought  on  his  own  account,  but  as  the  champion  of 
the  weak  and  the  timid,  and  especially  the  poor  and 
despised  urchins,  so  often  imposed  upon  by  cowardly 
and  snobbish  bullies. 


ANCESTRY,    BIRTHPLACE,    AND    BOYHOOD.  Q 

The  city  of  Lowell,  Mass.,  was  founded  in  1821 ; 
and  seven  years  later  Mrs.  Butler  removed  to  the 
new  manufacturing  village,  and  opened  a  boarding- 
house,  which  proved  so  successful  that  she  was  able 
to  aid  her  son  to  the  advantages  of  a  liberal  education. 

When  ready  for  college,  Benjamin  set  his  heart  on 
West  Point  Military  Academy ;  but  his  mother,  wish 
ing  him  to  become  a  Baptist  minister,  sent  him  to 
Waterville  College,  Maine,  where  he  spent  four  years, 
graduating  at  the  age  of  twenty,  1838. 

His  intellectual  grasp  and  activity  were  so  great 
that  he  not  only  mastered  easily  the  regular  lessons, 
but  the  ample  college  library  also,  leaving  the  insti 
tution  an  educated  young  man  in  the  broadest  and 
truest  sense.  He  was  a  leader  among  the  more 
literary  students,  and  through  his  influence  some 
important  reforms  were  inaugurated  in  the  college 
societies.  His  mind  was  of  the  original  and  inde 
pendent  type,  and  so  comprehensive  and  clear,  that 
he  saw  many  defects  and  errors  in  the  ideas  and 
rules  by  which  the  college  was  governed,  as  well  as 
in  the  system  of  theology  proclaimed  in  the  chapel. 
He  believed  that  to  develop  and  train  the  mind,  and 
supply  it  with  information  upon  all  useful  subjects, 
is  to  educate  it :  hence  he  was  not  willing  to  limit 
his  opportunities  to  the  curriculum  of  college  studies. 

To  him  the  Calvinistic  theology  taught  by  the 
president  and  professors  of  the  college  was  too  nar 
row  and  dogmatic  to  deserve  the  name  of  religion  ; 
which,  to  him,  meant  practical  reverence  for  God, 
through  obedience  to  his  laws. 


IO  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

One  of  the  professors  delivered  a  sermon  in  the 
chapel,  in  which  he  said,  "  i.  None  but  the  elect 
can  be  saved.  2.  Of  so-called  Christians,  probably 
not  more  than  one  in  a  hundred  will  be  saved. 
3.  Heathen  people  will  have  more  consideration  of 
the  Almighty  in  future  life  than  men  of  Christian 
nations  who  hear,  but  do  not  profit  by  the  word  of 
God." 

The  rules  of  the  institution  enforced  attendance 
upon  chapel-services,  and  after  hearing  this  sermon 
young  Butler  petitioned  the  faculty  to  relieve  him 
from  further  attendance  upon  preaching :  giving  as  a 
reason,  that,  according  to  the  proportion  stated,  not 
above  six  persons  in  the  college  could  possibly  be 
saved ;  and  as  there  were  nine  worthy  professors,  all 
of  whom  were  doctors  of  divinity,  it  would  be  pre 
sumptuous  for  him,  a  poor  student,  to  even  hope  for 
the  remotest  chance  of  salvation  :  hence  in  attend 
ing  church  he  was  only  making  his  damnation  more 
certain  and  terrible.  Two  or  three  of  the  faculty 
could  appreciate  the  humor,  if  not  the  logic,  of  the 
petition  ;  and  this  saved  the  young  theological  re 
former  from  expulsion  for  irreverence. 

On  leaving  college,  young  Butler  weighed  but 
ninety-seven  pounds,  and  gave  little  promise  of  the 
vigorous  manhood  he  has  since  developed. 

The  first  thing  he  did  was  just  the  right  thing. 
He  went  to  sea  with  an  uncle  of  his,  captain  of 
a  fishing-schooner.  The  cruise  lasted  four  months, 
during  which  the  young  student  worked  hard,  ate 
immense  rations  of  codfish,  and  came  back  home 


ANCESTRY,    BIRTHPLACE,    AND    BOYHOOD.  II 

robust  and  healthy.  From  that  time  to  this  he  has 
enjoyed  excellent  health;  and  his  constitution  is  un 
doubtedly  one  of  the  most  vigorous  and  enduring  to 
be  found  anywhere. 

He  has  maintained  that  vigor  by  obedience  to  the 
laws  of  health,  in  matters  of  diet,  exercise,  &c.  He 
is  regular  and  temperate  in  his  habits  :  hence  the 
secret  of  his  ability  to  do  more  brain-work  than 
almost  any  other  man  in  this  country. 


12  LIFE    OF   BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 


CHAPTER   II. 

HIS    CAREER   AS   A    LAWYER. 

ON  being  thwarted  in  his  wish  to  obtain  a  mili 
tary  training,  young  Butler  wished  to  become 
a  physician  ;  but,  before  leaving  college,  this  purpose 
was  abandoned,  and  on  his  return  to  Lowell,  from 
his  fishing-voyage,  he  entered  upon  the  study  of  the 
law.  His  poverty  compelled  him  to  teach  school  at 
intervals,  to  meet  personal  expenses,  until  qualified 
to  practise  in,  the  local  courts.  He  was  regarded  an 
excellent  school-teacher;  and,  long  before  he  asked 
for  admission  to  the  bar,  he  had  won  considerable 
reputation  as  an  attorney  in  minor  causes.  His 
first  clients  were  factory-girls  who  felt  themselves 
wronged  by  oppressive  corporations.  At  first  these 
poor  girls  came  to  young  Butler  for  advice  because 
they  were  not  able  to  pay  regular  lawyers'  fees,  and 
were  sure  of  his  sympathy  and  advice,  whether  they 
could  pay  him  or  not.  He  took  their  cases,  and 
usually  won  them ;  which  fact  attracted  attention, 
and  brought  him  other  clients.  Sometimes  he  would 
get  two  or  three  dollars  for  trying  a  cause  :  at  other 
times  his  fee  would  consist  entirely  of  profuse  and 
grateful  thanks. 


HIS   CAREER   AS    A    LAWYER.  13 

He  worked  and  studied  about  eighteen  hours  a 
day,  taking  no  recreation  save  such  as  he  found  in 
the  exercises  of  the  military  company  to  which  he 
belonged,  and  which  he  joined  as  a  private  soon  after 
he  commenced  the  study  of  the  law.  This  company 
was  called  the  City  Guard,  and  was  a  part  of  the 
famous  Sixth  Regiment  of  Massachusetts  militia, 
mobbed  in  the  streets  of  Baltimore  on  the  memora 
ble  i  Qth  of  April,  1861.  It  is  worthy  of  note,  that 
Gen.  Butler  rose,  step  by  step,  from  the  rank  of  pri 
vate  to  that  of  brigadier-general,  in  the  militia  of  his 
State,  before  the  war. 

Mr.  Butler  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1840,  at  the 
age  of  twenty-two,  and  almost  immediately  took  a 
leading  position  in  the  profession,  both  in  point  of 
ability  and  business. 

His  well-known  and  active  friendship  for  the 
laboring  classes  rendered  him  unpopular  with  the 
aristocracy,  and  especially  with  the  mill-owners.  But 
his  great  ability,  and  almost  marvellous  success  in 
winning  cases,  alarmed  them ;  and  a  committee, 
headed  by  the  attorney  for  the  principal  corporations, 
waited  upon  him.  The  old  attorney  said,  "  Mr.  But 
ler,  you  are  a  very  smart  young  man,  and,  if  you 
pursue  the  proper  course,  you  are  destined  to  achieve 
both  fame  and  fortune  in  your  profession ;  but  it  is 
rich  corporations,  and  not  poor  factory-girls,  that 
enable  an  attorney  to  have  a  large  bank-account." 
Butler's  reply  was  characteristic  of  the  man.  He 
said,  "  There  are  always  two  sides  to  a  lawsuit.  If  I 
am  not  for  you,  I  shall  be  against  you ;  and  you  can 
take  your  choice." 


14  LIFE   OF    BENJAMIN   F.    BUTLER. 

About  this  time  the  factory-girls,  to  the  number  of 
three  thousand,  struck  for  a  reduction  in  the  hours 
of  labor,  a  day's  work  being  thirteen  hours. 

The  girls  appointed  a  committee  to  invite  young 
lawyer  Butler  to  address  them  in  the  grove.  He  at 
once  accepted.  He  said,  "Your  grievances  are  great, 
your  claims  just,  but  you  are  not  likely  to  bring  your 
employers  to  terms  by  the  rash  measure  you  are 
taking.  Your  places  can  be  readily  filled,  and  you 
cannot  afford  to  be  thrown  out  of  work.  A  strike  is, 
at  least,  a  doubtful  and  generally  a  desperate  meas 
ure,  and  only  to  be  resolved  upon  as  a  last  resort, 
when  oppression  is  no  longer  endurable  or  otherwise 
curable."  He  advised  them  to  return  to  work,  and  try 
remonstrance,  and,  if  that  failed,  appeal  to  the  legis 
lature  to  limit  the  hours  of  labor.  The  girls  took 
the  advice  of  their  friend  and  advocate,  and  Butler 
received  the  thanks  of  their  employers  for  his  sensi 
ble  speech.  This  incident  served  to  enthuse  him  in 
favor  of  a  law  limiting  a  day's  work  to  ten  or  eleven 
hours  ;  and  it  was  mainly  due  to  his  efforts  as  a  mem 
ber  of  the  Legislature  of  the  State,  that  the  eleven- 
hour  law  was  passed. 

Gen.  Butler  possesses  the  qualities  of  a  lawyer  in 
the  highest  degree,  —  quick  perception,  comprehen 
sive,  and  tenacious  memory,  a  causative  and  logical 
mind,  a  keen  sense  of  humor,  force  of  character, 
and  unswerving  devotion  to  his  clients. 

He  takes  no  case  until  he  understands  it ;  and 
then  he  bends  all  his  powers  to  it,  with  faith  in, 
and  determination  to  win  it.  He  believes  in  law  ;  and, 


HIS    CAREER    AS    A    LAWYER.  15 

like  Socrates,  he  acts  on  the  principle,  that,  whether 
the  law  is  good  or  bad,  it  should  be  executed :  it  is 
the  business  of  the  law-maker,  not  the  attorney,  to 
alter  the  statutes.  He  takes  every  advantage  in  favor 
of  his  client,  the  law  gives  him.  There  is  a  prevalent 
notion  that  he  is  a  tricky  lawyer.  This  is  false, 
utterly  false.  It  doubtless  had  its  origin  in  the 
minds  of  small  attorneys,  who,  failing  to  cope  with 
him,  grew  envious,  and  avenged  themselves  by  slan 
dering  him.  His  great  success  is  due  to  his  ability, 
profundity,  energy,  and  pertinacity.  He  grasps  the 
case  in  its  entirety,  sees  its  weak  and  its  strong 
points ;  and,  as  the  testimony  develops,  he  analyzes 
it,  and  uses  it  to  the  best  possible  advantage.  A 
strong  point  in  his  favor  is  found  in  the  fact,  that 
the  courts  and  the  members  of  the  bar  recognize 
his  ability  and  profound  knowledge  of  law  to  so 
great  an  extent  that  they  yield  to  his  opinions  when 
not  sure  of  their  own.  They  fear  him.  The  follow 
ing  incident,  related  by  an  old  soldier  in  a  letter  to 
the  author,  illustrates  this  proposition.  He  says,  — 

"Some  years  ago  I  had  leased  a  house  in  Boston,  which 
proved  to  have  a  leaky  roof ;  and  the  first  rain-storm  seriously 
damaged  my  goods,  and  rendered  myself  and  family  uncom 
fortable.  I  asked  the  landlord  to  repair  the  roof.  He  refused. 
I  then  refused  to  pay  the  rent  until  the  repairs  should  be  made. 
His  attorney  informed  me  that  I  would  be  sued  unless  I  paid 
the  rent  by  twelve  o'clock  on  the  following  day.  I  was  almost 
in  despair  ;  but  my  wife  said,  *  Go  and  see  Gen.  Butler.'  I  did 
so,  finding  him  at  his  home  in  Lowell  at  nine  o'clock  in  the 
evening.  I  said,  '  General,  I  am  an  old  soldier,  of  whom  you 
never  heard.  I  am  in  trouble,  and  I  came  to  you  for  advice.' 


1 6  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

It  was  a  rainy  night,  and  my  boots  were  muddy;  but  he  invited 
me  into  his  parlor,  and,  in  the  most  kindly  manner,  asked  me 
to  state  my  case,  saying,  '  If  I  can  help  you,  I  will.'  I  showed 
him  my  lease,  and  gave  him  a  history  of  the  case.  He  said, 
'  You  have  a  good  case.  Don't  pay  a  dollar  until  full  damages 
are  allowed,  and  the  roof  repaired.'  I  said,  '  General,  I  am  not 
able  to  pay  you  much,  but  I  want  you  to  be  my  attorney  till 
this  matter  is  settled.'  — '  Go  home.  Rest  easy :  at  twelve 
to-morrow  keep  your  appointment,  and  tell  the  attorney  for  the 
landlord  that  your  attorney  advises  you  to  stand  a  suit.'  I 
said,  *  How  much  is  your  f ee ? '  —  'I  don't  charge  you  any 
thing.'  —  *  But  suppose  the  matter  comes  to  trial  ? '  —  *  Have 
no  fears  of  that.  They  will  settle  on  your  terms  when  you  tell 
them  I  have  the  case.'  At  the  hour  appointed,  I  met  the 
attorney  and  the  landlord.  They  were  uncompromising,  till  I 
said,  *  Well,  I  have  made  up  my  mind  to  let  you  sue ;  and  my 
attorney  assures  me  I  shall  win.'  — '  Who  is  your  attorney  ? '  — 
'  Gen.  Benjamin  F.  Butler?  They  trembled  at  the  sound  of 
his  name ;  and,  after  a  brief  conference  with  his  client,  the 
attorney  told  me  they  would  settle  on  my  terms." 

It  would  not  be  difficult  to  fill  this  volume  with 
anecdotes  similar  to  this. 

Gen.  Butler  gets  large  fees,  —  of  course  he  does,  — 
from  rich  men  and  corporations,  in  important  cases ; 
but  he  is  thus  enabled  to  advise  poor  people  without 
pay.  His  services  command  large  fees,  because  they 
arc  of  great  value.  In  speaking  of  this  subject,  in 
defence  of  Gen.  Butler  against  his  foes  during  the 
late  campaign,  Wendell  Phillips  said,  "  Men  say  he 
took  a  large  fee  in  the  case  of  the  Farragut  award. 
If  those  interested  in  that  award  had  been  offered 
Dawes's  services  for  five  thousand  dollars,  or  But 
ler's  at  a  hundred  thousand,  they  would  have  eagerly 
clutched  at  Butler's." 


HIS    CAREER   AS   A    LAWYER.  I/ 

He  adds,  "  There  is  no  man  in  public  life  who  does 
as  much  gratuitous  work  as  Gen.  Butler.  It  is  rare 
indeed  that  a  poor  man  who  has  a  grievous  wrong  to 
be  righted  leaves  his  office  without  a  gift  of  Butler's 


services." 


Gen.  Butler  has  long  been  recognized  as  the  ablest 
lawyer  at  the  bar  of  his  own  State,  and  one  of,  if 
not  the  ablest,  in  America :  hence  it  is  but  natural 
that  he  should  have  grown  wealthy  by  the  legitimate 
pursuit  of  his  profession.  He  is  not  only  a  success 
ful  attorney,  but  a  good  business-man.  He  has 
made  judicious  investments  of  his  surplus  earnings, 
chiefly  in  manufacturing  enterprises.  He  owns  no 
bond,  he  lends  no  money  on  interest ;  he  is  not  a 
monopolist,  but  a  man  of  enterprise,  who  invests  his 
money  where  it  benefits  others  as  well  as  himself. 
He  is  liberal  in  his  habits,  as  well  as  benevolent,  but 
not  extravagant ;  he  is  neither  reckless  nor  niggardly,, 
but  generous,  prudent,  industrious,  and  temperate. 
He  is  exceptionally  free  from  the  secret,  as  well  as 
open  vices,  of  public  men.  He  has  the  brain  of  a 
Franklin,  the  firmness  of  a  Jackson,  the  intellectual 
force  of  a  Bacon,  the  integrity  of  an  Aristides,  and 
the  ripe  scholarship  of  a  Gushing. 


1 8  LIFE   OP   BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 


CHAPTER   III. 
GEN.  BUTLER'S  POLITICAL  RECORD  BEFORE  THE  WAR. 

GEN.  BUTLER  is  a  democrat  by  nature  and  edu 
cation.  His  whole  being  rebels  against,  repu 
diates,  and  despises  arbitrary  despotism  and  aristo 
cratic  assumption.  He  believes  in  universal  suffrage, 
equal  rights,  and  just  laws.  He  indorses  unreserved 
ly  the  sentiments  of  the  Declaration  of  Independ 
ence,  and  he  stands  by  the  provisions  of  the  Consti 
tution.  He  made  himself,  when  a  boy,  familiar  with 
the  history  of  the  world.  He  traced  the  conflict  of 
political  ideas,  from  the  time  governments  began  to 
be  formed,  to  the  present  age.  He  noted  the  basis 
of  this  conflict,  and  the  slow  but  steady  progress 
from  absolute  tyranny  through  limited  monarchy  to 
republicanism.  He  discovered  that  the  law  of  evolu 
tions  applies  to  politics  as  well  as  to  natural  science. 
He  is,  therefore,  a  reformer,  but  not  a  revolution 
ist.  He  believes  in  law,  not  license ;  order,  not 
anarchy.  He  thinks  Jefferson  a  better  guide  than 
Hamilton  in  matters  pertaining  to  the  interpretation 
of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  the  ques 
tions  involved  in  and  settled  by  the  Revolution. 


HIS  POLITICAL  RECORD  BEFORE  THE  WAR.    IQ 

History  teaches  him  that  the  doctrines  of  the  old 
Federalists  formed  the  basis  of  the  Roman  republic, 
which  proved  a  failure,  leaving  the  last  state  of  that 
country  worse  than  the  first ;  while  the  doctrines  of 
Jefferson  and  his  compatriots  are  substantially  those 
upon  which  the  Swiss  republic  is  based ;  and  this 
has  stood  unshaken  amid  surrounding  despotisms 
for  five  hundred  years,  and  still  stands,  a  proud  vindi 
cation  of  the  principles  of  freedom  and  justice  as 
applied  to  government. 

The  general's  father  was  a  political  as  well  as  mili 
tary  follower  of  Gen.  Jackson  ;  but  he  died  in  his 
son's  infancy.  Massachusetts  was  a  Whig  State, 
and  Lowell  overwhelmingly  a  Whig  town  :  hence  it 
is  not  logical,  indeed,  would  be  very  absurd,  to  con 
clude  that  Gen.  Butler  allied  himself  to  the  Demo 
cratic  party  with  a  view  to  popularity  or  office,  or 
any  other  personal  advantage. 

He  has  been  called  a  demagogue;  but  only  by 
those  who  do  not  know  the  meaning  of  the  epithet, 
or,  knowing  it,  wilfully  and  maliciously  pervert  it. 
His  entire  political  career  is  a  defence  of  his  charac 
ter  against  so  vile  a  charge.  He  is  in  excellent 
company,  however.  No  fact  of  history  is  more  clear 
than  this,  that  every  great  man  who  has  practically 
believed  in  the  doctrine  of  equal  rights,  and  shown 
his  faith  in  this  doctrine  by  defending  the  rights  of 
the  poor  against  the  oppressions  of  the  rich,  has 
been  denounced  as  a  demagogue  ;  notably,  in  modern 
times,  by  three  classes,  —  partisan  priests,  partisan 
editors,  and  partisan  politicians  :  in  other  words,  by 


2O  LIFE   OF   BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

clerical,  editorial,  and  political  demagogues.  It  is  a 
common  remark,  that  Gen.  Butler  is  the  best  abused 
man  in  America ;  but  those  who  have  made  them 
selves  familiar  with  the  history  of  partisan  politics 
know  that  Thomas  Jefferson  was  equally,  if  not  more 
violently,  abused.  The  opposition  clergy  only  de 
nounce  Butler  as  a  demagogue,  and  advise  the  people 
not  to  vote  for  him.  They  said  Jefferson  ought  to 
be  hung  to  the  nearest  tree ;  and  in  1 804,  as  he  was 
peacefully  travelling  in  his  own  carriage  across  the 
State  of  New  Jersey,  the  preachers  of  Trenton,  by 
violent  denunciations,  so  wrought  upon  the  passions 
of  the  people  that  his  carriage  was  mobbed,  and  he 
narrowly  escaped  with  his  life. 

Gen.  Butler  has  been  on  the  wrong  side  of  some 
questions ;  but  he  was  honestly  so,  and  just  so  soon 
as  convinced  of  his  error  he  changed  his  position, 
and  acknowledged  his  error.  He  was  wrong  on  the 
slavery  question  before  the  war.  The  reason  for  this 
error  was,  that  he  never  regarded  it  as  an  abstract, 
but  simply  as  a  constitutional,  question. 

The  Constitution  recognized  the  institution  of 
slavery ;  and  he  maintained,  that,  as  the  Constitution 
is  the  supreme  law  of  the  land,  its  provisions  must 
be  maintained,  and  all  rights  guaranteed  by  it  pro 
tected.  The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  is 
the  national  charter ;  and  it  were  treason  for  any 
individual  or  state  to  nullify  or  violate  its  plain  pro 
visions.  In  this  doctrine  he  was  sustained  by  the 
great  statesmen  of  both  the  great  parties,  as  well  as 
by  the  opinions  of  the  fathers  who  framed  the  gov- 


HIS    POLITICAL    RECORD    BEFORE    THE    WAR.         21 

ernment,  and  ordained  the  Constitution.  Gen.  But 
ler's  doctrine  has  been,  and  is  :  If  constitutions  or 
laws  are  wrong,  change  them ;  but,  while  they  exist, 
maintain  them,  and  obey  them.  He  believed  that  it 
was  an  outrage  to  require  factory-girls  and  other 
operatives  to  work  thirteen  hours  a  day ;  yet  he 
advised  them  against  strikes,  saying,  "Change  the 
law." 

He  became  a  candidate  for  the  Legislature  on  that 
issue,  and  was  triumphantly  elected.  A  few  days 
before  the  election,  a  committee  of  workingmen 
called  at  his  office,  to  say  that  a  notice  had  been 
posted  in  all  the  mills,  that  all  who  voted  the  Butler 
ticket  would  be  discharged.  Here  was  violation  of 
law  and  of  right  threatened  by  his  opponents.  Op 
pression  was  to  be  maintained  by  bull-dozing,  though 
this  word  had  not  been  invented  then.  He  said, 
"Announce  me  for  a  speech  to-morrow  night"  The 
audience  was  immense,  expectation  on  tiptoe.  He 
began  by  saying,  — 

"  I  am  no  revolutionist.  Revolution  is  war,  the  destruction 
of  property,  the  shedding  of  blood.  The  accumulations  of  my 
lifetime  are  invested  in  this  city ;  and  its  value,  its  continued 
existence,  and  the  value  of-  all  property,  and  the  peace  and 
safety  of  the  whole  community,  depend  upon  the  peaceful 
labors  of  the  men  before  me.  I  do  not  counsel  revolution  or 
violent  measures  ;  for  I  do  not,  /  can  not,  believe  that  the  notice 
posted  in-  the  mills  was  authorized.  Some  ignorant  underling 
has  done  this  with  the  hope  of  propitiating  the  favor  of  distant 
masters;  misjudging  them,  misjudging  you.  The  owners  of 
the  mills  are  surely  too  wise,  too  just,  or  at  least  too  prudent,  to 
authorize  a  measure  which  absolutely  extinguishes  government, 


22  LIFE    OF   BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

which  invites,  justifies,  and  necessitates  anarchy.  For  tyranny 
less  odious  than  this,  men  of  Massachusetts,  our  fathers  cast 
off  their  allegiance  to  the  king,  and  plunged  into  the  bloody 
chaos  of  revolution ;  and  the  directors  must  know  that  the  3ons 
stand  ready  to  do  as  their  sires  have  done  before  them.  But  if 
it  should  prove  true  that  this  infamous  notice  was  authorized, 
if  men  are  to  be  deprived  even  of  the  enjoyment  of  the  primeval 
curse,  'By  the  sweat  of  thy  face  shalt  thou  eat  thy  bread,' 
for  exercising  the  right  of  an  American  citizen  to  vote  as  their 
conciences  dictate,  then,  WOE  TO  LOWELL!  The  place  that 
knows  it  now  shall  know  it  no  more  forever!  To  my  own 
house,  I,  with  this  hand,  will  first  apply  the  torch.  All  I  have 
I  consecrate  to  the  flames." 

The  effect  of  this  speech  was  magical.  The  audi 
ence  were  so  stirred,  that  for  a  few  moments  it 
seemed  that  nothing  could  prevent  the  burning  of 
the  city  at  once.  But  they  were  in  the  hands  of  a 
master  in  whom  they  trusted ;  and  when  he  closed 
by  saying,  "  My  friends,  go  home,  obey  the  laws,  do 
no  act  of  violence ;  and,  when  election-day  comes, 
vote  as  your  judgment  shall  dictate,  without  regard 
to  personal  consequences.  Wait  till  overt  acts  of 
treason  to  liberty  and  law  shall  come  from  the  other 
side."  The  notice  disappeared  at  once,  and  Butler 
was  elected.  He  has  served  two  sessions  in  the 
House,  one  in  the  Senate,  and  was  also  a  member 
of  the  State  Constitutional  Convention ;  and  his 
record  is  that  of  a  sound  statesman  and  honest  re 
former. 

Gen.  Butler  ran  for  governor  of  Massachusetts 
twice  before  the  war,  receiving  the  first  time  fifty 
thousand  votes,  but  the  other  time  only  six  thousand. 


HIS    POLITICAL    RECORD    BEFORE   THE    WAR.        23 

This  was  in  1860;  and  the  reason  for  his  small  vote 
was,  that  he  opposed  the  nomination  first,  and  after 
wards  the  election,  of  Douglas  to  the  presidency. 
The  general  took  such  interest  in  politics,  that  he 
always  attended  the  national  conventions  of  his 
party;  beginning  with  the  convention  of  1844,  which 
nominated  Polk  for  the  presidency.  He  was  some 
times  on  the  platform  committee :  hence  his  hand 
and  head  had  much  to  do  with  shaping  the  national 
policy  of  the  party.  He  believed  that  the  perpetua 
tion  of  the  Union,  and  the  protection  of  the  people's 
rights,  depended  upon  the  continued  dominance  of 
the  Democratic  party.  He  recognized  the  fact  that 
the  Whig  party  was  the  legitimate  child  and  suc 
cessor  of  the  old  Federalist  party,  inheriting  the 
aristocratic  ideas  of  Alexander  Hamilton  and  John 
Adams  :  hence  he  could  not  regard  it  as  a  safe  custo 
dian  of  the  rights  and  interests  of  the  toiling  masses. 
He  saw  also  that  the  constitutional  guaranties  of  the 
slave  States  were  not  respected  by  that  party,  as  a 
party ;  and  he  held  it  sound  doctrine,  that,  so  long  as 
the  slaveholders  had  rights  under  the  Constitution, 
those  rights  should  be  respected. 

James  Parton,  in  his  book  entitled  "Gen.  Butler 
in  New  Orleans,"  says,  "The  basis  of  Gen.  Butler's 
interest  in  politics  is  an  entire  and  fond  belief  in 
the  principles  upon  which  this  government  was 
founded,  and  an  intense  desire  that  the  great  experi 
ment  should  gloriously  succeed.  Among  educated 
Americans  there  are  two  kinds  of  men,  democrats 
and  snobs.  Gen.  Butler  is  a  democrat.  In  the  very 


24  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

strength  of  his  attachment  to  democratic  principles 
is  to  be  found  the  cause  of  his  having  ignored  the 
rights  of  the  negroes  for  so  long  a  time.  He 
thought  any  question  of  their  rights  was.  petty  in 
comparison  with  the  mighty  stake  of  mankind  in  the 
union  of  these  States,  and  the  triumph  of  demo 
cratic  institutions.  The  only  danger  to  the  Union, 
he  thought,  arose  from  the  agitation  of  questions 
respecting  slavery;  and  he  and  his  colleagues  strove 
with  all  their  might  to  avert  or  defer  it."  He  adds, 
"In  his  speeches  on  the  slavery  question  there  is 
candor,  force,  and  truth ;  and  their  argument  is  un 
answerable  if  it  be  granted  that  slavery  can  have  any 
rights.  There  is  nothing  in  them  of  base  subser 
viency,  nothing  of  insincerity,  no  vote-catching 
vagueness."  Gen.  Butler  was  not  a  friend  of  slavery, 
but  of  the  Union  and  the  Constitution.  He  had  no 
sympathy  with  the  violent  methods  adopted  by  the 
slaveholders  to  suppress  free  speech  and  crush  oppo 
sition.  He  condemned  all  such  measures  as  undem 
ocratic.  He  denounced  the  assault  of  Brooks  upon 
Sumner,  in  the  public  places  of  Washington,  in  lan 
guage  strong  and  unmistakable ;  and  he  was  one  of 
the  first  to  call  upon  the  stricken  senator,  to  assure 
him  of  his  sympathy  for  his  sufferings  and  his  indig 
nation  at  the  dastardly  act. 

When  the  news  of  the  John  Brown  raid  on  Har 
per's  Ferry  reached  Lowell,  a  public  meeting  was 
held,  and  Gen.  Butler  invited  to  address  it.  The  fol 
lowing  extract  from  that  speech  shows  the  spirit  of  the 
man,  and  indicates  clearly  his  position  at  that  time :  — 


HIS    POLITICAL    RECORD    BEFORE    THE    WAR.        25 

"  It  is  well  for  us  to  be  assembled  here.  Let  us  proclaim  to 
all  men,  that  the  Union,  first  and  fairest  of  all  the  good  gifts 
of  God,  must  and  shall  be  preserved.  That  it  is  a  duty  we 
recognize,  and  will  fulfil,  to  grant  to  every  part  of  this  country 
its  rights  as  guaranteed  by  the  Constitution,  and  due  by  the 
compact ;  that  we  will,  and  every  part  of  the  country  shall, 
respect  those  institutions  of  any  other  part  of  the  country  with 
which  they  and  we  have  nothing  to  do,  save  to  let  them  alone, 
whether  they  are  palatable  to  us,  or  not.  .  .  .  Thus  doing  our 
duty,  and  claiming  our  rights,  and  granting  those  of  others,  as 
any  man  will  do  who  is  a  just  man,  must  not  the  Union  be 
perpetual  ?  Let  no  man  mistake  upon  the  matter.  This  Union, 
this  Republic,  the  great  experiment  of  equal  rights,  this  power 
of  self-government  by  the  people,  this  great  instrument  of  civili 
zation,  the  banding  together  of  the  intellectual  and  political 
power  of  those  races  which  are  to  civilize  the  world  by  their 
energy  of  action,  is  not  to  fail,  and  human  progress  be  set 
back  a  thousand  years,  because  of  the  difference  of  opinion  as 
to  the  supposed  rights  and  interests  of  a  few  negroes.  This 
Union  is  not  like  a  family,  because  its  members  must  never 
separate,  and  divide  the  homestead.  It  is  not  like  a  partner 
ship,  because  it  contains  no  elements  or  periods  of  dissolution. 
It  is  not  like  a  confederation,  because  it  contains  no  clause  or 
means  by  which  one  or  more  of  its  members  can  withdraw.  It 
is  either  organization  or  chaos.  It  may  crumble  into  atoms  :  it 
cannot  be  split  in  fragments.  A  despotism  may  arise  upon  its 
ruins,  but  little  snarling  republics  can  never  be  made  from  its 
pieces.  ...  To  us  no  star  in  our  glorious  banner  differeth 
from  another  star  in  glory ;  but  all  must  and  shall  shine  on  to 
gether  in  one  constellation,  to  bless  the  world  with  its  benign 
radiance  forever." 

Are  these  the  words  of  a  demagogue,  or  the  sen 
timents  of  a  statesman  ?  the  rantings  of  a  fanatic, 
or  the  calm  wisdom  of  a  philosopher  ?  Gen.  Butler 
attended  the  Charleston  Convention  in  April,  1860, 


26  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

with  a  fixed  determination  to  make  no  concessions  to 
the  South  beyond  those  contained  in  the  Cincinnati 
platform  of  1856;  and  as  a  member  of  the  Committee 
on  Resolutions  he  proposed  the  following  :  — 

"Resolved,  That  we,  the  Democracy  of  the  Union,  in  conven 
tion  assembled,  hereby  declare  our  affirmance  of  the  Democratic 
resolutions  unanimously  adopted  and  declared  as  a  platform  of 
principles  at  Cincinnati,  in  the  year  1856,  without  addition  or 
alteration ;  believing  that  Democratic  principles  are  unchange 
able  in  their  nature  when  applied  to  the  same  subject-matter." 

This  resolution  was  lost  by  one  vote,  —  sixteen 
States  for,  and  seventeen  against  it.  Gen.  Butler 
earnestly  desired  that  the  convention  should  har 
monize  upon  a  platform  and  a  candidate ;  but,  beyond 
the  Cincinnati  platform,  he  could  offer  nothing  to 
the  South.  He  became  disgusted  with  Douglas,  or 
rather  with  his  friends  who  represented  him  in  the 
convention,  because  he  saw  a  disposition  to  offer 
more  than  the  South  asked.  They  were  willing  to 
concede  any  thing  for  the  sake  of  the  nomination  of 
the  Little  Giant  of  squatter  sovereignty.  But  the 
representative  men  of  the  party,  and  especially  of 
the  South,  were  averse  to  Judge  Douglas ;  they  dis 
trusted  him,  and  their  distrust  increased  in  proportion 
to  the  overtures  made  by  the  Douglas  delegates. 

There  were  three  platforms  reported  to  the  con 
vention ;  one  from  the  majority,  one  from  the  mi 
nority,  of  the  committee,  and  one  from  Gen.  Butler, 
who  had  refused  to  indorse  the  report  of  either 
faction  of  the  committee,  but  stood  by  the  Cincinnati 
platform.  He  made  a  speech  in  favor  of  his  report 


HIS    POLITICAL    RECORD    BEFORE    THE   WAR.        2/ 

and  in  opposition  to  the  objectionable  features  of  the 
others.     He  said,  — 

"  If  the  Cincinnati  platform  is  so  defective,  why  did  you  give 
it  such  enthusiastic  support  in  1856?  I  am*told  that  it  is  capa 
ble  of  two  interpretations.  Why,  sir,  when  Omniscience  sends 
us  a  divine  law  for  our  guidance  through  life,  and  our  hope  in 
death,  for  almost  two  thousand  years  men  have  been  engaged 
in  giving  different  interpretations  of  that  law,  and  they  have 
sealed  their  faith  in  their  own  interpretations  with  their  blood. 
They  have  burned  each  other  at  the  stake  as  an  evidence  of  the 
sincerity  of  their  faith." 

Speaking  of  the  majority  report,  he  said, — 

"  Our  opponents  will  see  in  it,  what  I  hope  Southern  gentle 
men  do  not  mean,  —  the  re-opening  of  the  African  slave-trade  ; 
and  it  will  be  so  construed  that  no  man  can  get  rid  of  the  inter 
pretation.  It  will  be  proclaimed  from  every  stump,  flaunted 
from  every  pulpit,  thundered  from  every  platform,  in  the  North, 
until  we,  your  friends,  —  and  in  no  boasting  spirit  I  say,  with 
out  us  you  are  powerless,  —  the  last  refuge  of  the  constitutional 
rights  of  the  South,  are  stricken  down  powerless  forever;  so 
that  without  modification  it  would  be  impossible  for  me  to  adopt 
the  report." 

He  proceeded  to  review  the  resolutions  presented 
by  the  Douglas  wing  of  the  committee,  showing  how 
weak  and  silly  they  were,  — a  mere  web  of  sophistry 
to  catch  gulls.  He  punctured  the  carefully  worded 
resolutions. 

"Leaving  the  whole  matter  of  slavery  in  either  States  or  ter 
ritories  to  the  Supreme  Court,  suppose,  gentlemen  of  the  North, 
the  Supreme  Court  should  decide  that  slavery  exists  in  Massa 
chusetts,  that  it  was  forced  upon  us  by  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States :  what  would  you  do  about  it? 

"And  you,  gentlemen  of  the  South,  suppose  in  the  course 


28  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

of  a  few  years  the  Supreme  Court  should  become  anti-slavery, 
and  make  a  decision  that  slavery  nowhere  exists  by  natural  law 
and  that  men  can  hold  no  property  in  man :  what  then  ?  Are 
you  prepared  to  abide  by  the  decision  ?  " 

At  this  point  a  delegate  from  Maryland,  Mr.  John 
son,  interrupted  him  by  saying  that  it  became  a  man 
representing  a  State  that  never  gave  a  Democratic 
majority,  to  be  modest  about  offering  advice  to  a 
Democratic  convention.  Gen.  Butler  is  most  happy 
at  retort,  and  he  was  ready  now  :  — 

"You  may  taunt  me  with  the  fact  that  I  am  speaking  for 
poor  old  Massachusetts,  who  has  not  given  a  Democratic  vote 
since  the  days  of  Jefferson :  she  did  give  a  Democratic  vote 
then.  By  that  vote  the  South  acquired  the  rich  inheritance  of 
Louisiana ;  and  I  see  here  from  the  Gulf  States  men  whom  but 
for  that  vote  I  never  would  have  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting, 
except  as  subjects  of  Napoleon  III. 

"  Then  do  not  taunt  me  with  speaking  for  a  State  that  cannot 
give  an  electoral  vote.  I  feel  bad  enough  about  it.  I  do  not 
like  to  be  taunted  with  it.  I  think  it  especially  unkind  of  my 
friend  from  Maryland,  because  he  violated  the  well-known 
maxim,  that  the  pot  should  never  call  the  kettle  black." 

Mr.  Johnson  replied,  "  While  Maryland  obeys  the 
laws  of  the  Union,  as  she  has  ever  done,  she  con 
siders  herself  equal  to  all  other  States ;  but,  when 
she  refuses  to  acknowledge  the  force  of  the  Consti 
tution,  she  will  then  be  more  modest  in  the  expres 
sion  of  her  opinions." 

"  Comparisons  are  odious,"  responded  Gen.  Butler ; 
"  but  I  say  that  any  man  in  Massachusetts  can  walk 
up  to  the  polls,  and  vote  as  he  pleases,  without  dan 
ger  of  having  his  head  broken  by  a  club." 


HIS  POLITICAL  RECORD  BEFORE  THE  WAR.    2Q 

Gen.  Butler's  report  was  adopted  by  a  large  major 
ity  of  the  convention,  230  to  40.  The  next  thing 
was  to  nominate  a  candidate  to  stand  upon  it.  The 
result  is  a  matter  of  history. 

Gen.  Butler,  in  his  report  to  his  constituents  on  his 
return  from  the  convention,  says,  — 

"  With  the  facts  before  me,  and  impressing  upon  me  the 
conviction  that  the  nomination  of  Judge  Douglas  could  not  be 
made  with  any  hope  of  safety  to  the  Democratic  party,  what 
was  I  to  do?  Yielding  to  your  preferences,  I  voted  seven 
times  for  Judge  Douglas,  although  my  judgment  told  me  that 
my  votes  were  worse  than  useless,  as  they  gave  him  an  appear 
ance  of  strength  in  the  convention  which  I  felt  he  had  not  in 
the  party. 

"  I  then  looked  about  me,  with  a  view  to  throwing  my  vote 
where,  at  least,  it  would  not  mislead  any  one.  I  saw  a  states 
man  of  national  fame,  who  had  led  his  regiment  to  victory  at 
Buena  Vista,  a  Democrat  with  whom  I  disagreed  in  some 
things,  but  with  whom  I  could  act  in  most,  —  loving  his  country 
first,  his  .section  next,  but  just  to  all,  so  that,  through  his 
endeavors  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  Massachusetts 
obtained  from  the  General  Government  several  hundred  thou 
sand  dollars,  her  just  dues  deferred  for  forty  years,  —  a  feat 
which  none  of  her  own  sons  had  ever  been  able  to  accomplish. 
Besides,  his  friends  were  not  pressing  his  name  before  the  con 
vention,  so  that  he  was  not  a  party  to  the  personal  strife  then 
going  on.  I  thought  such  a  man  worthy  of  the  poor  compli 
ment  of  a  vote  from  Massachusetts  :  therefore  I  threw  my  vote 
or  Jefferson  Davis  of  Mississippi.  I  make  no  apology  for  that 
vote.  I  believe  it  was  guided  by  an  intelligent  view  of  the 
situation." 

After  fifty-seven  ballotings,  without  a  nomination, 
the  convention  adjourned,  to  meet  in  Baltimore  on 
the  1 8th  of  June. 


3O  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

There  Judge  Douglas's  friends  maintained  their 
fixed  determination  to  force  him  upon  the  party,  and 
the  convention  again  split.  Gen.  Butler,  being  unal 
terably  opposed  to  the  nomination  of  Douglas,  went 
with  the  delegates  who  agreed  with  him  in  this  oppo 
sition. 

The  Douglas  men  nominated  their  favorite,  with 
Herschel  V.  Johnson  of  Georgia,  an  avowed  disunion- 
ist,  for  the  second  office.  The  other  party  nom 
inated  Breckenridge  of  Kentucky  for  the  presidency, 
and  Lane  of  Oregon  for  vice-president. 

In  justice  to  Gen.  Butler,  let  it  be  stated  that  his 
candidate  stood  upon  a  platform  which  left  the  peo 
ple  of  each  territory  free  to  form  a  constitution,  and 
come  into  the  Union,  as  a  slave  State  or  as  a  free 
State. 

The  platform  of  Douglas  said,  uThe  Supreme 
Court  shall  decide  the  matter,  both  for  the  States 
and  Territories ;  and  its  decisions  shall  be  final." 

The  Republican  platform,  upon  which  Mr.  Lincoln 
was  placed,  said,  "There  is  no  authority  anywhere 
which  can  sustain  slavery  in  the  territories  of  this 
country.  Neither  Congress  nor  the  Supreme  Court 
can  do  it."  If  Gen.  Butler  was  wrong,  it  was  cer 
tainly  not  in  his  decision  between  the  two  Demo 
cratic  platforms.  He  was  wiser  than  a  majority  of 
his  party  at  that  time.  He  demonstrated  his  hon 
esty  by  opposing  the  sophistical  demagoguery  of  the 
Douglas  faction.  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  from 
a  Democratic  standpoint  he  acted  right ;  and  it  is  a 
source  of  satisfaction  to  the  writer,  that,  as  a  Repub- 


HIS    POLITICAL    RECORD    BEFORE    THE    WAR.        3 1 

lican,  he  said  so  publicly  during  that  ever  memorable 
campaign. 

In  a  speech  in  Lowell,  in  defence  of  his  position, 
Gen.  Butler  said,  — 

"  We  who  support  Mr.  Breckenridge  are  called  disunionists. 
By  whom  is  this  charge  made  ?  By  Pierre  Soule  of  Louisiana, 
an  avowed  disunionist ;  by  John  Forsythe  ;  and  the  Atlanta 
Confederacy,  which  maintains  the  duty  of  the  South  to  leave 
the  Union  if  Lincoln  is  elected.  And  yet  these  men  are  the 
foremost  in  promoting  the  election  of  Douglas.  By  Goulding 
of  Georgia,  who  is  making  the  same  speech  in  the  campaign  for 
Douglas  that  he  made  in  the  Baltimore  convention,  where  he 
argued  that  non-intervention  meant  that  Congress  had  no 
power  to  prevent  the  exportation  of  negroes  from  Africa,  and 
that  popular  sovereignty  meant  the  re-establishment  of  the 
slave-trade.  When  I  left  that  convention,  I  declared  that  I 
would  no  longer  sit  where  the  African  slave-trade,  made  piracy 
and  felony  by  the  laws  of  my  country,,  was  openly  advocated 
and  applauded.  Yet  such  at  the  South  are  the  supporters  of 
Douglas." 

.Gen.  Butler  knew  that  quite  a  considerable  num 
ber  of  Southern  leaders  were  ready  to  favor  secession 
in  the  event  of  the  election  of  Lincoln ;  but  he  did 
not  believe  that  a  majority  of  them  would  sustain  so 
rash  and  treasonable  a  measure.  An  agreement  had 
been  made  at  Baltimore,  that  if  Lincoln  should  be 
chosen,  — which  was  then  thought  probable,  —  the 
Democratic  leaders  should  meet  in  Washington  on 
the  ist  of  December,  1860,  to  consult  together  on  the 
situation.  Accordingly  Gen.  Butler  repaired  to  the 
capital  on  the  opening  of  Congress,  where  he  met 
quite  a  large  number  of  his  party  friends.  South 


32  LIFE   OF   BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

Carolina  had  already  seceded,  and  sent  three  men, 
commissioned  to  act  for  the  State  in  negotiating 
terms  of  separation.  To  the  headquarters  of  this 
trio  of  traitors,  the  general  repaired.  He  found  a 
large  number  of  representative  Southerners  there, 
who,  to  his  surprise,  talked  as  though  they  regarded 
a  dissolution  of  the  Union  a  settled  fact.  Among 
the  few  who  opposed  this  view  of  the  situation,  Mr. 
Breckenridge  stood  out  prominent.  The  brilliant  ex- 
candidate  joined  Gen.  Butler  in  an  earnest  effort  to 
stay  the  tide  of  treason,  and  save  the  old  party,  the 
South,  and  the  Union.  They  met  with  very  little 
encouragement,  little  sympathy  even. 

"  What  does  this  mean  ? "  asked  Butler  of  a  promi 
nent  Southern  Democrat,  soon  after  his  arrival. 

"  It  means  simply  what  it  appears  to  mean.  The 
Union  is  dead.  The  experiment  is  finished.  The 
attempt  of  two  communities  having  no  interest  in 
common,  to  live  together,  to  make  believe  they  are 
one  nation,  has  ceased  forever.  We  shall  establish 
a  sound,  homogeneous  government,  with  no  discord 
ant  elements.  We  shall  have  room  for  our  friends. 
Come  with  us." 

"  Have  you  counted  the  cost  ?  Do  you  really  think 
you  can  break  up  this  Union  ?  Do  you  think  so, 
yourself  ? " 

"I  do." 

"  You  are,  then,  prepared  for  civil  war  ?  You 
mean  to  bring  this  matter  to  the  issue  of  arms  ? " 

"  Oh,  the  North  won't  fight !  " 

"The  North  ze/*7/ fight." 


HIS  POLITICAL  RECORD  BEFORE  THE  WAR.    33 

"  The  North  can't  fight.  We  have  friends  enough 
at  the  North  to  prevent  it." 

"You  have  friends  at  the  North  as  long  as  you 
remain  true  to  the  Constitution  and  the  Union.  But, 
the  moment  it  is  seen  that  you  mean  to  break  up  the 
nation,  that  moment  the  North  is  a  unit  against  you. 
I  can  answer  for  Massachusetts.  She  is  good  for 
ten  thousand  men  to  march  at  once  against  armed 
Secession." 

"  Massachusetts  is  not  such  a  fool.  If  your  State 
should  attempt  to  send  an  army  to  preserve  the 
Union,  she  would  have  to  fight  twice  as  large  an 
army  at  home,  who  will  oppose  such  a  policy." 

"  No,  sir :  when  we  come  from  Massachusetts  to 
fight  for  the  Union,  we  shall  not  leave  a  single  traitor 
behind,  unless  we  leave  him  hanging  on  a  tree.  I 
know  something  of  the  North,  and  a  good  deal  about 
New  England.  We  are  pretty  quiet  there  now,  be 
cause  we  don't  believe  you  mean  to  carry  out  your 
threats.  But,  as  sure  as  you  attempt  to  break  up  this 
Union,  the  North  will  resist  the  attempt,  to  the  last 
man  and  the  last  dollar ;  and  you  are  as  certain  to 
fail  as  there  is  a  God  in  heaven.  You  may  ruin  the 
South,  and  blot  out  slavery ;  but  you  can't  destroy 
the  Union.  God  and  nature,  and  the  blood  of  your 
fathers  and  mine,  have  made  it  one ;  and  one  it  must 
remain  forever." 

"  Would  you  fight  against  us  ? " 

"  I  would  ;  and,  by  the  grace  of  God,  /  will." 

Gen.  Butler  called  on  the  President,  Buchanan, 
and  Attorney-General  Black,  to  present  his  plan  for 


34  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

crushing  treason  while  yet  in  the  bud.  He  said, 
"  Secession  is  treason ;  and  the  presenting  of  an 
ordinance  of  secession  is  an  overt  act  of  treason. 
These  so-called  commissioners  from  South  Carolina 
are  coming  to  the  White  House  to  present  the 
ordinance  to  the  President.  Admit  them.  Let  them 
present  the  ordinance.  Have  a  United-States  mar 
shal  present,  with  orders  to  arrest  them  as  prisoners 
of  state,  charged  with  treason.  Try  them  before 
the  Supreme  Court,  as  we  did  Aaron  Burr.  I  will 
stay  here,  and  help  the  district  attorney,  without  fee 
or  reward.  If  they  are  convicted,  hang  them,  if  that 
is  the  sentence.  If  they  are  acquitted,  you  will  have 
done  something  toward  leaving  a  clear  path  for  the 
incoming  administration.  Time  will  have  been 
gained ;  for  both  sides  will  pause,  and  watch  the 
dignified  proceedings.  Passions  will  cool,  the  points 
at  issue  will  become  clear  to  all  parties ;  and,  in  my 
opinion,  the  threatened  storm  will  pass  by." 

The  Attorney-General  favored  Gen.  Butler's  plan, 
but  the  President  refused  to  sanction  it.  Thus, 
through  the  weakness  and  timidity  of  one  man,  who 
held  supreme  power,  was  the  scheme  of  the  ablest 
and  most  daring  of  American  statesmen  rejected,  —  a 
scheme  which  few  can  doubt  was  wisely  planned, 
and  would  have  been  successful. 

Gen.  Butler  had  many  long  and  earnest  interviews 
with  the  Southern  leaders,  during  which  he  used 
every  art  of  argument  and  persuasion  of  which  he 
was  master,  with  the  hope  of  changing  their  purpose  ; 
but  all  was  vain.  They  adhered  to  their  purpose, 


HIS    POLITICAL    RECORD    BEFORE    THE    WAR.        35 

and  urged  him  to  join  them,  offering  every  induce 
ment  in  the  form  of  office,  honors,  money.  But  he 
checked  them  by  saying,  "I  pardon  the  insult  you 
offer  me,  that  we  may  to-night  part  as  friends ;  but, 
unless  you  repent  of  your  rash  purpose,  we  meet  no 
more,  except,  perchance,  on  the  battle-field,  as  mortal 
foes." 

He  at  once  called  on  his  old  friend  Senator  Wil 
son  of  Massachusetts,  to  lay  before  him  all  the  facts 
he  had  gathered,  and  ask  him  to  join  him  in  a  letter 
to  the  governor  of  their  State,  suggesting  the  impor 
tance  of  putting  the  militia  of  the  Commonwealth  on 
a  war  footing  at  once,  with  a  view  to  possible  emer 
gency.  On  his  return  to  Boston  he  had  a  personal 
interview  with  Gov.  Andrew.  The  result  was  the 
adoption  of  his  advice.  The  governor  could  hardly 
believe  the  danger  so  imminent  as  Gen.  Butler  rep 
resented  it ;  but  the  stirring  events  of  the  next  few 
months  fully  sustained  the  wisdom  of  his  opinion 
and  counsel. 


36  LIFE   OF   BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 


CHAPTER   IV. 
GEN.  BUTLER'S  RECORD  AS  A  SOLDIER. 

r  I  "'HE  booming  of  rebel  cannon  fired  on  Fort 
A  Sumter  awoke  not  only  the  echoes  of  Charles 
ton  Harbor,  but  the  slumbering  patriotism  of  a 
nation  of  freemen. 

On  the  1 5th  of  April,  1861,  Gen.  Butler  was  en 
gaged  upon  a  case  in  a  Boston  court.  The  hand  on 
the  dial  of  time  pointed  to  a  quarter  to  five,  P.M.,  when 
Col.  Jones  of  the  Sixth  Regiment  of  Massachusetts 
militia  entered,  and  handed  the  general  an  order 
from  the  governor  of  the  State,  to  muster  his  com 
mand  forthwith  on  Boston  Common.  To  read  and 
indorse  this  order,  was  the  work  of  a  moment ;  and 
the  brave  colonel  started  for  Lowell  to  call  his  men 
together.  The  general  handed  his  briefs  to  an  asso 
ciate  attorney,  and  followed  on  the  5.30  train. 

At  eleven  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  i6th,  the 
regiment,  the  colonel,  and  the  general  were  on  Bos 
ton  Common  awaiting  orders,  though  it  had  cost  a 
whole  night  of  active  effort  to  collect  the  various 
companies  from  their  different  and  widely  separated 
homes.  The  first  requisition  of  the  Secretary  of  War 


HIS    RECORD    AS   A   SOLDIER.  37 

had  been  for  two  regiments  to  defend  Washington. 
On  this  day  he  telegraphed  for  a  brigade  of  four  full 
regiments,  and  a  brigadier-general  to  command  it. 
Gen.  Pierce  was  the  ranking  brigadier  in  the  State, 
and  a  political  as  well  as  personal  friend  of  the  gov 
ernor  ;  yet  the  command  was  tendered  to  Gen.  Butler, 
who  at  once  accepted  it.  It  was  decided  to  send  the 
Sixth  forward  at  once ;  and  it  left  at  four  that  after 
noon,  after  hearing  stirring  words  of  patriotic  cheer 
from  Gov.  Andrew  and  Gen.  Butler.  At  midnight 
the  general  went  to  his  home,  awoke  his  family 
from  their  peaceful  slumbers,  only  to  embrace  his 
wife  and  children,  and  bid  them  good-by.  An  early 
train  from  Lowell  bore  him  to  Boston  in  company 
with  his  brother  Andrew  J.,  then  on  a  visit  to  his 
early  home  from  California,  and  who  accepted  a  posi 
tion  on  the  staff  of  the  general. 

Two  regiments  were  sent  by  steamer  to  Fortress 
Monroe ;  but  the  Eighth,  with  Gen.  Butler  in  immedi 
ate  command,  took  the  train  for  Washington  via  New 
York  and  Philadelphia.  In  New  York  they  were 
entertained  at  the  Astor  and  Metropolitan  hotels ; 
and  on  arriving  at  Philadelphia  they  were  quartered 
at  the  Girard,  and  generously  fed  by  the  citizens  of 
the  city.  Here  the  news  of  the  attack  on  the  Sixth 
Regiment  by  the  Baltimore  mob  reached  the  general. 
He  also  learned  that  the  bridges  were  on  fire  :  hence 
it  would  be  impossible  to  reach  Washington  via  Bal 
timore.  The  general  consulted  the  map,  and  re 
solved  to  go  to  Havre  de  Grace  by  rail,  thence  to 
Annapolis  by  steamer,  and  from  there  to  Washington 


38  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

by  railroad.  Rumor  said,  "Maryland  is  full  of  armed 
rebels,  and  hard  fighting  may  be  expected  ;"  but  Gen. 
Butler  had  started  for  Washington  under  orders,  and 
he  meant  to  get  there  at  the  earliest  possible  moment. 
His  plans  were  determined  upon ;  and  then  he  called 
his  officers  together,  and  laid  them  before  them,  say 
ing,  "  I  take  the  responsibility  upon  myself,  and  now 
invite  you  to  share  the  dangers."  Not  a  man  faltered. 
Sketching  his  plans  to  be  forwarded  to  Gov.  Andrew 
after  his  departure,  he  started  with  his  regiment  for 
Havre  de  Grace.  Col.  Lefferts  of  the  Seventh  New 
York  was  there  with  his  regiment,  and  was  asked  by 
the  general  to  go  with  him ;  but,  regarding  the  peril 
too  great,  he  declined. 

Arriving  at  Havre  de  Grace,  the  general  took  pos 
session  of  the  steam  ferry-boat,  and,  embarking  with 
his  command,  ordered  the  captain  to  steer  for  Annap 
olis  by  the  shortest  route.  The  general  had  doubts 
as  to  the  loyalty  of  the  captain  and  crew  of  the 
steamer  "Maryland:"  hence  he  kept 'watch  person 
ally  while  his  men  slept 

They  hove  in  sight  of  the  capital  of  Maryland  at 
midnight,  and  were  surprised  to  find  the  city  illumi 
nated.  Ordering  the  anchor  overboard,  he  sent  his 
brother  in  a  small  boat,  to  learn  why  the  people  were 
so  wide  awake.  Col.  Butler  landed  at  the  Naval 
Academy,  and  had  an  interview  with  Capt  Blake, 
commandant  of  the  post.  Scarcely  had  Col.  Butler 
reached  the  shore,  when  a  boat  was  seen  approaching 
the  steamer,  and  a  voice  called  out,  "  What  steamer 
is  this  ? " 


HIS    RECORD    AS   A    SOLDIER.  39 

Receiving  no  reply,  the  boat  was  making  for  the 
shore  when  Gen.  Butler  called  out,  "Come  on  board, 
or  I  will  fire  into  you." 

This  boat  proved  to  have  been  sent  by  Capt.  Blake, 
to  ascertain  the  name  and  object  of  the  steamer. 
Lieut.  Matthews  and  Gen.  Butler  soon  came  to  an 
understanding,  and  were  mutually  delighted,  being 
both  true  patriots.  Capt.  Blake,  though  loyal,  ad 
vised  the  general  not  to  land ;  and  Gov.  Hicks  for 
bade  his  doing  so,  in  a  written  order. 

He  disregarded  both  the  captain's  advice  and  the 
governor's  order.  Before  landing,  however,  he  towed 
the  old  school-ship  "  Constitution,"  which  lay  at  the 
wharf  aground,  in  imminent  danger  of  capture  by 
the  rebels,  out  to  sea,  thus  saving  her  to  the  Govern 
ment.  Gen.  Butler  was  informed  that  it  would  be 
impossible  to  reach  Washington,  as  the  railroad  had 
been  destroyed,  and  the  woods  were  full  of  armed 
rebels  ;  and,  still  worse,  that  not  a  citizen  of  Annapo 
lis  would  give  or  sell  him  any  thing  for  him  or  his 
soldiers  to  eat. 

The  general  replied  to  this  last  terrible  news,  that 
he  had  hoped  for  more  hospitable  treatment,  but  that 
his  soldiers  were  not  apt  to  suffer  for  food  :  if  ordi 
nary  means  did  not  suffice  to  procure  it,  there  were 
measures  known  to  soldiers  that  would  not  fail.  The 
hint  was  sufficient.  The  soldiers  found  no  difficulty 
in  purchasing  supplies.  In  the  mean  time  Col.  Lef- 
ferts  with  his  Seventh  New  York  arrived  ;  he  having 
been  compelled  to  adopt  Gen.  Butler's  route  to  Wash 
ington,  after  he  had  left  Philadelphia.  The  two  regi- 


4O  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

ments  greeted  each  other  with  hearty  cheers,  and 
fraternized  at  once ;  but,  on  hearing  the  cock-and-bull 
stories  with  which  Gov.  Hicks  and  the  citizens  of 
Annapolis  had  tried  in  vain  to  frighten  Gen.  Butler, 
Col.  Lefferts  declined  the  second  time  to  join  the  gen 
eral  in  his  march  to  the  capital,  resolving  to  remain 
in  the  fort  until  re-enforcements  should  arrive.  Par- 
ton  says,  "Vain  were  arguments ;  vain  remonstrance  ; 
vain  the  biting  taunt.  Col.  Lefferts  still  refused  to 
go."  Gen.  Butler  said,  "  Then  we  go  alone."  He 
seized  the  railroad  depot  and  storehouse,  forcing  the 
gates.  Finding  an  old  locomotive,  he  put  it  in 
charge  of  Charles  Homans,  a  private  of  Company 
E,  a  locomotive-builder  by  trade,  who  soon  had  it  in 
working  trim.  The  railroad-track  had  been  torn  up  ; 
but  there  were  plenty  of  men  in  his  regiment  who 
knew  how  to  build  railroads,  and  these  were  set  to 
work.  At  dawn  of  the  next  day  all  was  in  readiness 
for  a  start  to  Washington  ;  and  Col.  Lefferts  having 
got  over  his  scare,  and  his  men  and  officers  being 
anxious  to  share  the  dangers  and  glory  of  the  bold 
march,  relented,  and,  to  Gen.  Butler's  delight,  an 
nounced  his  purpose  to  go  with  him. 

The  general  took  every  precaution  against  success 
ful  attack,  by  mounting  loaded  howitzers  on  platform 
cars,  and  ordering  his  men  to  keep  their  arms  in 
hand  ready  for  momentary  use  in  case  of  attack. 
Thus  this  indomitable  soldier  forwarded  his  com 
mand  through  a  hostile  country  to  the  capital  of  the 
nation,  laying  track  and  building  bridges  as  they 
went.  His  fearless  courage  overawed  his  foes,  and 


HIS    RECORD    AS    A    SOLDIER.  4! 

no  attack  was  made  upon  his  little  army  of  Spartan 
Yankees. 

After  getting  the  two  regiments  well  on  their  way, 
and  assuring  himself  of  their  entire  safety,  he  re 
turned  to  Annapolis,  under  orders  from  Gen.  Scott, 
who  created  the  Department  of  Annapolis,  the  com 
mand  of  which  he  assigned  to  Brig.-Gen.  Benjamin  F. 
Butler.  His  instructions  gave  him  almost  absolute 
power ;  and  this  power  he  never  abused,  but  used  it 
wisely  and  well.  Large  bodies  of  troops  landed  here, 
and  were  forwarded  by  Gen.  Butler  on  to  Washing 
ton.  He  established  a  system  of  strict  surveillance 
over  travel  between  the  North  and  South,  arresting 
all  spies  and  suspicious  characters,  giving  passports 
only  to  those  who  could  show  a  clear  record.  He 
kept  a  strict  watch  on  the  governor  and  legislature 
of  Maryland ;  and,  having  got  possession  of  the  seal 
of  the  State,  he  prevented  the  passage,  or  rather  the 
legalizing,  of  any  act  of  treason. 

His  great  services  were  highly  appreciated  by 
President  Lincoln,  as  well  as  by  Gen.  Scott  and  the 
Secretary  of  War  ;  and  the  governor  and  people  of 
Massachusetts  felt  justly  proud  of  their  distinguished 
citizen-general. 

Gen.  Butler  was  always  a  Democrat  with  anti- 
slavery  proclivities ;  but  he  believed  in  carrying  out 
that,  and  all  other  reforms,  within  the  Democratic 
party.  For  he  looked  to  disruption  of  the  Union 
when  it  should  be  attempted  to  be  done  by  legal  en 
actment  ;  because  he  held,  as  a  lawyer,  that  the  Con 
stitution  gave  the  right  to  that  species  of  property  to 


42  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.   BUTLER. 

the  South.  He  was  very  active  in  the  election  of  Mr. 
Sumner,  in  forming  a  coalition  between  the  Demo 
cratic  party  and  the  Free-soil  party  in  Massachusetts, 
by  the  united  votes  of  which  Charles  Sumner  was 
elected  to  the  United  States  Senate.  And,  foresee 
ing  what  actually  happened,  the  worst  that  could  be 
said  of  him  in  that  regard  is,  that  he,  like  Lincoln, 
preferred  the  union  of  the  States  and  the  integrity  of 
the  Government,  with  slavery,  rather  than  the  disrup 
tion  of  the  country,  and  the  breaking  of  the  Republic 
into  fragments,  and  that  a  portion  of  it  should  not 
have  slavery. 

When  the  South,  by  the  Rebellion,  broke  all  con 
stitutional  obligations,  he  held  that  they  gave  up  all 
constitutional  rights,  and  that  he  was  set  free  in  that 
regard  from  all  constitutional  restrictions  ;  and,  from 
that  hour,  gave  to  his  anti-slavery  predilections  free 
scope,  looking  upon  the  necessary  and  actual  result 
of  the  war,  which  he  had  done  his  best  to  stave  off, 
to  be  the  entire  abolition  of  that  institution. 


THE  CAPTURE  OF  BALTIMORE.         43 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE   CAPTURE   OF    BALTIMORE. 

THE  first  regiment  to  march  to  the  defence  of 
the  Union,  under  the  call  of  President  Lincoln, 
was  the  Sixth  Massachusetts,  the  regiment  in  which 
Gen.  Butler  had  enlisted  as  a  private  at  the  age  of 
twenty-two  ;  the  regiment  in  which  he  had  served 
as  a  private  soldier,  corporal,  sergeant,  second  lieu 
tenant,  first  lieutenant,  captain,  major,  lieutenant- 
colonel,  and  colonel,  and  which  formed  a  part  of  his 
brigade  at  the  beginning  of  the  war.  This  regiment 
was  fired  upon  by  a  mob  of  rebel  citizens  while  qui 
etly  marching  through  the  streets  of  Baltimore,  on 
the  iQth  of  April,  1861.  This  regiment  furnished 
the  first  victims  immolated  upon  the  altar  of  free 
dom  at  the  opening  of  the  new  dispensation,  —  the 
first  blood  that  crimsoned  anew  the  glorious  flag, 
twice  baptized  in  the  rich  life-currents  that  flowed 
from  the  loyal  hearts  of  our  patriot  fathers.  Balti 
more  was  still  dominated  by  that  murderous  mob  of 
traitors,  though  the  majority  of  her  citizens  were 
loyal  and  true.  This  was  enough  to  fill  the  heart 
of  Gen.  Bi^ler  with  a  burning  desire  to  go  to  Balti- 


44  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

more.  But  this  was  not  all :  Baltimore  was  the  gate 
way  between  the  North  and  the  South ;  and  the  key 
was  in  the  hands  of  the  rebels,  who  were  thus  able, 
in  large  measure,  to  prevent  communication  between 
the  capital  and  the  loyal  part  of  the  nation. 

Northern  journals  and  the  Northern  people  were 
demanding  of  the  War  Office  the  subjugation  of 
Baltimore,  and  re-opening  of  the  gateway  to  Wash 
ington. 

Gen.  Scott  at  length  saw  the  necessity  of  it,  and 
formulated  a  plan,  which  he  presented  to  Gens. 
Butler,  Patterson,  and  others.  This  plan  involved 
the  necessity  of  an  army  of  twelve  thousand  men, 
in  four  grand  divisions,  to  march  simultaneously  to 
the  attack  of  Baltimore,  and  another  army  of  ten 
thousand  to  guard  Washington,  and  act  as  a  reserve. 

Gen.  Butler  had  a  plan  which  he  presented,  but 
which  the  once  grand  but  now  superannuated  hero  of 
Lundy's  Lane  rejected  promptly;  which  rejection  the 
War  Department  subsequently  pronounced  the  great 
est  mistake  of  the  ever  memorable  campaign  or!  1861. 

This  plan  comprehended  as  its  chief  feature  the 
occupation  and  fortification  of  Manassas  Junction, 
and  the  cutting-off  of  all  railway  connection  between 
the  South  and  Washington.  This  would  have  saved 
us  the  disaster  and  disgrace  of  the  battle  of  Bull 
Run. 

To  take  possession  of  and  occupy  Baltimore  was 
another  important  part  of  his  programme.  To  this 
Gen.  Scott  listened  with  some  patience ;  but  he  did 
not  believe  it  could  be  effected  without  a  large  army, 


THE    CAPTURE    OF    BALTIMORE.  45 

and  in  his  opinion  it  would  require  considerable 
time. 

Gen.  Butler  succeeded  in  obtaining  permission  to 
change  his  base  of  operations  from  Annapolis  to  the 
Relay  House,  situated  nine  miles  west  of  Baltimore ; 
and  being  informed,  that,  as  a  department  com 
mander,  he  was  wholly  unrestricted  save  in  regard  to 
matters  covered  by  positive  orders  from  Washington, 
he  resolved  upon  capturing  Baltimore  upon  his  own 
hook,  and  thus  surprise  both  the  rebels  and  his  chief. 
Little  thought  he  that  Gen.  Scott  would  be  as  indig 
nant  at  such  a  bold  coup  d'etat  as  the  worst  Balti 
more  plug-ugly  could  be. 

On  the  6th  of  May,  Gen.  Butler  reached  the  Relay 
House  with  the  Sixth  Massachusetts,  Eighth  New 
York,  and  Cook's  battery.  He  cultivated  and  en 
couraged  friendly  relations  with  the  citizens  of  the 
village  and  vicinity  ;  but  he  arrested  every  man  who 
gave  utterance  to  rebel  sentiments  in  his  camp.  A 
Baltimore  man  spoke  approvingly  of  the  action  of 
the  mob,  which  attacked  the  Sixth  Massachusetts,  in 
the  presence  of  some  of  the  soldiers,  who  at  once 
arrested  him  ;  and  by  order  of  the  general  he  was 
sent  to  Annapolis  a  prisoner. 

Baltimore  was  in  Gen.  Butler's  department,  of 
which  fact  he  reminded  Gen.  Scott  by  special  de 
spatch  on  the  1 3th  of  May.  The  reply  assured  him 
that  Gen.  Scott  was  glad  Baltimore  was  in  his 
department,  and  desired  to  invite  his  special  atten 
tion  to  the  fact,  that,  according  to  information 
deemed  reliable,  there  was  a  large  amount  of  powder 


4  LIFE   OF   BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

stored  in  a  church  in  that  city,  which  he  feared  might 
fall  into  active  rebel  hands,  and  be  used  against  the 
Government.  The  same  day,  in  the  afternoon,  Gen. 
Butler  left  Relay  on  two  trains,  going  toward  Har 
per's  Ferry.  The  smaller  train,  with  some  fifty  men, 
was  bound  for  Frederick  City  to  capture  Ross  Wi- 
nans,  the  millionnaire,  traitor,  and  inventor  of  the 
Winans  steam-gun.  The'  other,  with  its  nine  hun 
dred  men,  two  field-pieces,  Gen.  Butler  and  his  staff, 
with  their  horses,  was  really  bound  for  Baltimore ; 
but,  as  there  were  probably  spies  constantly  watch 
ing  his  movements,  the  general  adopted  that  ruse  to 
throw  them  off  the  right  scent.  After  running  a  few 
miles,  the  engine  of  the  longer  train  was  reversed 
and  it  backed  down  to  Baltimore,  passing  the  Relay 
House  without  stopping,  arriving  in  the  city  about 
half-past  seven,  in  the  midst  of  a  furious  storm. 
The  general  describes  this  storm  as  the  most  terrific 
he  ever  witnessed.  This  had  served  to  drive  the 
people  indoors,,  and  he  led  his  troops  from  the  Cam- 
den-street  depot  to  Federal  Hill  without  attracting 
scarcely  any  attention.  He  had  given  orders  for  a 
quiet  march  without  music  or  conversation  ;  but,  if 
fired  upon,  the  house  from  whence  the  shot  came  was 
to  be  demolished,  and  the  inmates  arrested.  No 
such  enlivening  incident  occurred.  The  little  army 
reached  the  summit  of  Federal  Hill  in  safety,  and, 
planting  their  field-pieces,  were  in  possession  of 
the  city  without  loss  of  a  charge  of  powder.  The 
soldiers  pitched  their  tents,  the  quartermaster 
brought  a  lot  of  wood  from  the  nearest  yard  ;  and 


THE  CAPTURE  OF  BALTIMORE.          47 

soon  all  fatigue  was  forgotten  in  a  royal  supper  of 
fat  pork,  hard-tack,  and  hot  coffee.  The  re'veille  on 
Federal  Hill  gave  the  city  an  early  awakening  and 
a  wonderful  surprise.  They  could  scarcely  believe 
that  those  blue-coated  forms  on  the  hill  were  real 
live  Yankees.  They  were  half  inclined  to  the  opin 
ion  that  they  were  apparitions,  or  phantoms  of  their 
disordered  imaginations.  But  at  nine,  A.M.,  a  late 
edition  of  "The  Clipper"  gave  them  Gen.  Butler's 
proclamation.  It  was  dated,  "  Department  of  Anna 
polis,  Federal  Hill,  Baltimore,  May  14,  1861."  It 
gave  the  citizens  to  clearly  understand  that  he  had 
taken  possession  of  the  city  for  the  purpose  of  main 
taining  order,  and  enforcing  obedience  to  law  ;  that  no 
loyal,  peaceably-disposed  person  would  be  disturbed ; 
that  private  property  would  be  respected,  &c. 

He  invited  the  co-operation  of  the  civil  authorities 
of  the  city  in  maintaining  .order,  and  in  every  way 
assured  them  that  he  regarded  the  city  as  loyal  to 
the  government  of  the  United  States.  No  resistance 
was  attempted,  no  disturbance,  worthy  of  mention 
occurred.  But  before  the  close  of  the  memorable 
1 4th  of  May,  something  occurred  to  disturb  Gen. 
Butler.  It  was  the  following  telegram  from  Wash 
ington  :  — 

"  SIR,  —  Your  hazardous  occupation  of  Baltimore  was  made 
without  my  knowledge,  and,  of  course,  without  my  approbation. 
It  is  a  godsend  that  it  was  without  conflict  of  arms." 

This  furious  telegram  bore  the  name  of  the  three- 
hundred-pound  thunderer,  Lieut-Gen.  Winfield  Scott 


48  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

Gen.  Butler  had  overworked,  and  was  really  ill ; 
and  this  was  a  heavy  dose  of  bad  medicine.  He 
had  accomplished  in  a  few  days,  with  less  than  one 
thousand  soldiers,  and  without  the  loss  of  a  man, 
what  Gen.  Scott  proposed  to  do  in  three  months, 
with  twelve  thousand  men.  True,  he  had  incurred 
some  risk ;  but,  as  Parton  puts  it,  "  Being  only  a 
volunteer  general,  and  not  a  West  Point  graduate, 
he  did  not  understand  how  war  was  to  be  carried  on 
without  incurring  some  risk  of  a  conflict  with  the 
enemy  now  and  then." 

Gen.  Scott  was  furious  at  the  audacity  of  Gen. 
Butler,  and  nothing  would  appease  his  wrath  but  his 
immediate  recall.  So  Butler  was  ordered  to  report 
at  Washington,  to  receive  a  violent  reproof  from 
Gen.  Scott,  and  a  profusion  of  high  compliments 
and  grateful  thanks  from  Secretary  Cameron  and 
President  Lincoln. 


HE   IS   PROMOTED   TO   MAJOR-GENERAL.  49 


CHAPTER  VI. 

GEN.   BUTLER    IS    PROMOTED    TO    MAJOR-GENERAL,    AND 
PUT    IN    COMMAND    OF    FORTRESS    MONROE. 

T)RESIDENT  LINCOLN  not  only  congratulated 
X  Gen.  Butler  on  his  brilliant  success  in  taking 
Baltimore,  but  he  tendered  him  a  commission  as 
major-general,  as  a  substantial  proof  of  his  apprecia 
tion  of  his  ability  and  services,  saying,  "  Now,  gen 
eral,  take  your  old  command,  and  go  down  to 
Fortress  Monroe.  Whatever  additional  force  you 
may  ask  for,  shall  be  furnished  you,  with  a  view  to 
the  ultimate  capture  of  Norfolk."  Parton  says, 
"  Gens.  McClellan  and  Banks  were  still  in  the  pay 
of  their  respective  railroad  companies  when  Gen. 
Butler  received  his  promotion  :  hence  he  was  the 
senior  major-general  in  the  service  of  the  United 
States." 

He  reached  Fortress  Monroe  on  the  morning  of 
May  22.  He  found  that  almost  every  thing  needful 
for  comfort,  use,  and  success,  was  wanting,  except 
soldiers ;  and  these  he  had  brought  with  him.  The 
old  fort  was  dilapidated,  and  at  best  incapable  of 
furnishing  quarters  for  his  force.  There  were  no 


5O  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

horses  nor  wagons,  and  the  water  was  a  mile  away, 
the  wood  nearly  as  far ;  and  all  supplies  of  provisions 
had  to  be  carried  on  the  backs  of  the  soldiers,  or 
rolled  in  barrels,  by  hand,  on  the  ground,  from  the 
wharf  to  the  fort. 

The  general  began  to  ask  for  what  was  imperiously 
demanded,  and  he  at  once  began  not  to  get  it.  He 
then  got  permission  for  his  brother  to  purchase  a  lot 
of  horses.  He  got  the  permission,  but  not  the  horses ; 
for,  just  as  they  were  ready  to  ship,  a  requisition  from 
the  War  Department  took  them  out  of  Col.  Butler's 
hands,  and  put  them  in  the  artillery-service  at  Wash 
ington.  This  is  a  fair  sample  of  the  treatment  he 
received  :  hence  it  were  useless  to  particularize.  He 
did  not  permit  his  embarrassments  to  cool  his  ardor, 
or  lessen  his  active  efforts  to  do  good  service.  He 
reconnoitred  the  surrounding  country.  He  occupied 
Newport  News,  with  the  ultimate  view  of  capturing 
Richmond,  and  ending  the  rebellion. 

THE    FIRST   CONTRABANDS. 

On  the  evening  of  May  24,  1861,  Major-Gen.  Butler 
was  informed  that  three  negro  men  had  been  brought 
into  camp  at  their  own  request,  they  having  volun 
tarily  surrendered  to  one  of  his  pickets.  These 
negroes  said  they  had  belonged  to  Col.  Mallory,  who 
was  on  the  point  of  sending  them  to  North  Carolina 
to  work  on  rebel  forts ;  and  they  objected  to  being 
separated  from  their  families.  Gen.  Butler  reflected 
a  moment.  Here  was  a  great  question  to  be  solved. 


HE    IS    PROMOTED   TO    MAJOR-GENERAL.  51 

Col.  Mallory  was  a  rebel ;  and  if  his  horses,  or  any 
ordinary  property  belonging  to  him,  had  fallen  into 
Gen.  Butler's  hands,  he  would  not  have  hesitated 
about  using  it  in  the  service  of  the  co,untry.  Then 
why  not  his  slaves  ? 

These  negroes  were  about  to  be  set  to  work  on 
rebel  fortifications,  to  be  utilized  against  the  Govern 
ment  :  they  were  regarded  as  property  by  their  mas 
ters ;  and,  if  so,  why  not,  like  other  property,  subject 
to  confiscation  ? 

"The  South,"  said  Wendell  Phillips,  "fought  to 
sustain  slavery,  and  the  North  fought  not  to  haye  it 
hurt."  Here  was  a  conundrum;  and  Gen.  Butler 
solved  it  by  pronouncing  that  magical  word,  "contra 
band"  Yes,  these  negroes  are,  according  to  the 
rules  of  war,  contraband ;  and  he  ordered  them  set 
to  work. 

The  news  spread  among  the  slave-population,  and 
the  negroes  came  in  from  every  quarter  daily. 

A  rebel  officer,  Major  Carey,  sent  Gen.  Butler  a 
note  asking  an  interview  on  the  high  road,  a  mile 
from  the  fort.  It  was  granted  at  once  ;  and  the  gen 
eral,  accompanied  by  his  staff,  rode  out  to  meet  some 
of  his  old  Democratic  friends,  whom  he  had  not  seen 
since  the  adjournment  of  the  Baltimore  Convention. 
After  a  polite  but  rather  stately  greeting,  Major 
Carey  said,  — 

"  I  wish  to  know,  sir,  upon  what  principles  you 
propose  to  conduct  the  war  ?  I  am  agent  for  Col. 
Mallory ;  and,  having  learned  that  three  negroes 
belonging  to  him  have  escaped  within  your  lines,  I 
wish  to  ask  what  you  mean  to  do  with  them  ? " 


52  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

"  I  propose  to  keep  them,  and  make  them  useful  to 
the  Government." 

"Do  you  mean,  then,  to  set  aside  your  constitu 
tional  obligations  ? " 

"I  mean  to  abide  by  the  decision  of  Virginia,  as 
expressed  in  her  ordinance  of  secession  passed  day 
before  yesterday.  I  am  under  no  constitutional  obli 
gations  to  a  foreign  country,  which  Virginia  now 
claims  to  be." 

"  But  you  say  we  can't  secede,  and  so  you  can't 
consistently  detain  the  negroes." 

"  But  you  say  you  have  seceded  :  hence  you*  can't 
consistently  claim  them.  I  shall  hold  them  as  con 
traband  of  war.  You  were  using  them  against  the 
Government :  I  propose  to  use  them  in  favor  of  it. 
If,  however,  Col.  Mallory  will  come  in  and  take  the 
oath  of  allegiance  to  the  United  States,  he  shall  have 
his  negroes." 

At  this  point  the  conversation  ended. 

Gen.  Butler  wrote  the  Government  in  regard  to  this 
matter,  giving  his  views  very  fully.  He  said, 
among  other  things,  "  These  negroes  are  being  used 
against  the  Government  by  its  foes.  They  were 
used  in  the  erection  of  Sewell's -Point  batteries,  from 
which  my  command  was  fired  on.  Without  them 
these  batteries  could  not  have  been  built  for  many 
weeks,  at  least.  As  a  military  question,  it  would 
seem  to  be  a  matter  of  necessity  to  deprive  the  rebels 
of  their  services ;  and,  if  I  accept  the  services  of 
father  and  mother,  would  not  sentiments  of  humanity 
dictate  that  I  also  take  care  of  the  children  ? " 


HE    IS    PROMOTED   TO    MAJOR-GENERAL.  53 

The  Secretary  of  War  wrote,  in  reply,  that  his  con 
duct  in  regard  to  the  negroes  was  fully  approved  by 
the  Government.  But  the  slaveholding  rebel  author 
ities,  and  the  kid-gloved  West-Point  dilettanti,  con 
demned  it.  In  the  light  of  gathered  experience,  who 
does  not  pronounce  it  one  of  the  wisest,  grandest, 
and  most  patriotic  measures  of  that  stormy  but 
wonderfully  educative  era  ? 

Many  incidents  of  interest  occurred  in  this  connec 
tion  ;  some  amusing,  others  pathetic,  some  combining 
the  two.  The  following  will  serve  as  an  illustration 
of  the  latter  class.  An  old  Virginia  gentleman  came 
to  Gen.  Butler's  headquarters  one  day,  to  ask  that 
one  of  his  thirty  negroes,  who  had  all  escaped  to  the 
fort,  might  be  returned. 

His  countenance  was  elongated  by  sadness,  and 
clouded  by  grief ;  and  his  voice  quavered  as  though 
partially  paralyzed  by  a  touch  from  the  wand  of 
despair.  He  said,  "  I  allers  treated  my  niggers  kind, 
and  I  thought  they  all  loved  me.  Last  Sunday  I 
went  to  the  house  of  God ;  and,  when  I  got  back, 
I  entered  my  house,  and  I  found  nobody  there.  I 
called  for  Mary,  to  take  off  my  coat,  and  hang  it  up  ; 
but  Mary  didn't  come.  Then  I  went  into  the  next 
room,  to  find  Mary ;  but  I  found  her  not :  there  was 
no  Mary  there.  I  went  into  the  kitchen  ;  but  there 
was  nobody  in  the  kitchen.  I  went  into  the  garden  ; 
but  there  was  nobody  in  the  garden.  I  went  to  the 
nigger-quarters  ;  but  there  was  nobody  in  the  nigger- 
quarters.  I  went  into  my  house,  and  I  felt  very 
lonesome.  After  a  while  Jeems  came  to  me.  Jeems 


54  LIFE   OF   BENJAMIN   F.    BUTLER. 

is  my  body-sarvant,  and  he  has  sarved  me  faithfully 
for  many  years. 

"  I  asked  Jeems  what  had  happened,  and  Jeems 
said  all  the  people  had  gone  to  the  fort. 

"  '  While  I  was  at  the  house  of  God,  Jeems  ? ' 

"  '  Yes,  massa  :  they're  all- gone.' 

"And  I  said  to  Jeems,  'Why  didn't  you  go  too, 
Jeems  ? ' 

"And  Jeems  said,  'Oh,  massa!  I'll  never  leave 
you.' 

"  '  Well,  Jeems,'  said  I,  'as  there's  nobody  to  cook, 
see  if  you  can't  get  me  some  cold  vittles  and  some 
whiskey,  Jeems.' 

"  And,  when  I  had  eaten,  I  said  to  Jeems,  — 

"  'Jeems,  it's  no  use  our  stayin'  here.  We  will  go 
to  your  mistress.'  His  mistress,  sir,  had  gone  away 
from  home  about  eleven  miles,  fleeing  from  the 
dangers  of  the  war.  And  so,  'Jeems,'  said  I,  'har 
ness  up  the  best  horse  to  the  cart,  and  put  into  the 
cart  our  best  bed,  and  some  bacon,  and  some  corn- 
meal,  and,  Jeems,  some  whiskey ;  and  we'll  go  unto 
your  mistress,  Jeems.'  And  Jeems  harnessed  up  the 
cart,  and  we  started.  It  was  late  at  night,  sir,  when 
we  got  there;  so  I  said  to  Jeems,  'Jeems,  it's  no  use 
to  unload  the  cart  to-night.  Put  the  horse  in  the 
stable,  Jeems,  and  unload  the  cart  in  the  mornin'.' 

"And  Jeems  said,  'Yes,  massa.' 

"  I  met  my  wife,  sir ;  I  embraced  her,  and  went  to 
bed.  Next  mornin',  Jeems  was  gone!  Then  I 
came  here ;  and  the  first  thing  I  saw  when  I  got 
here  was  Jeems,  a-peddlin'  cabbages  to  your  men,  out 
of  that  very  cart !  " 


HE    IS    PROMOTED    TO    MAJOR-GENERAL.  55 

The  general  and  his  staff  were  sorry  for  the  poor 
old  man  who  had  been  so  fearfully  deceived  in  regard 
to  the  amount  of  affection  his  slaves  had  entertained 
for  him  ;  but  the  amusing  features  of  the  case,  as  he 
presented  it,  predominated,  and  a  general  laugh  fol 
lowed. 

The  old  Virginian  did  not  laugh.  On  the  contrary, 
he  turned  on  his  heel,  and  left  the  fort,  without  an 
other  word  being  said  on  either  side. 

On  the  2/th  of  May,  Gen.  Butler  wrote  to  the  War 
Department,  that,  in  his  opinion,  Richmond  could  be 
reached  and  captured  by  way  of  the  James  River. 

He  said,  "  I  have  a  force  of  six  thousand  men ;  but 
I  have  no  horses  or  wagons,  and  I  shall  need  a  large 
number  of  surf-boats  for  landing  my  men,  &c."  In 
this  communication  he  presented  a  carefully  pre 
pared  and  elaborate  plan  of  his  proposed  campaign, 
which  he  was  confident,  and  is  still  confident,  would 
have  been  successful  had  the  means  asked  for  been 
furnished,  but  they  were  not.  He  was  even  obliged 
to  order  nine  of  his  own  horses  from  his  home  at 
Lowell,  as  a  matter  of  pressing  necessity.  No  amount 
of  asking,  urging,  or  any  thing  else,  not  even  the 
influence  of  official  friends  at  the  seat  of  government, 
could  influence  the  commander-in-chief  to  furnish 
this  brave  and  active  soldier  the  means  of  striking 
an  effective  blow. 

A  gentleman  occupying  a  high  position  in  the  War 
Office  wrote  Gen.  Butler,  "  I  told  the  President  to 
day  that '  would  never  let  you  have  troops  and 

means  to  make  a  decisive  blow ;  and  I  read  the  de- 


56  LIFE    O/  BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

spatch,  to  show  that  I  understood  my  man.  He  in 
tended  to  treat  you  as  he  did,  and  as  he  has  always 
treated  those  who  he  knew  would  be  effective  if  he 
gave  them  the  means.  He  retains  every  thing  in  his 
own  power,  and  under  his  own  immediate  control,  so 
as  to  monopolize  all  the  reputation  to  be  made." 

THE  BATTLE  OF  GREAT  BETHEL. 

Gen.  Butler  became  impatient  under  such  treat 
ment,  and  resolved  to  strike  for  his  country.  This 
seemed  necessary,  for  the  reason  that  the  rebels  were 
growing  bold,  and  might  conclude  to  attack  his  lines 
ere  long.  Indeed,  they  were  sending  out  squads,  and 
capturing  Union  men  and  negroes  daily. 

They  had  fortified  two  points  near  by,  —  Great 
Bethel  and  Little  Bethel ;  and  Gen.  Butler  resolved 
upon  the  capture  of  these  posts,  though  his  positive 
orders  limited  him  to  a  half-day's  march  from  his 
headquarters. 

The  plans  were  well  laid;  but  he  had  no  cavalry, 
very  little  artillery,  and  not  an  officer  or  soldier  who 
had  ever  been  in  battle. 

He  gave  the  chief  command  to  Gen.  E.  W.  Pierce, 
formerly  his  senior  officer  in  the  Massachusetts 
militia.  Parton  says,  "This  was  by  way  of  atone 
ment  to  Gen.  Pierce  for  having  taken  the  place  wbich 
by  seniority  belonged  to  him,  and  was  honorable  to 
his  feelings  as  a  man,  but  a  blunder  in  a  military 
point  of  view.  Gen.  Pierce  was  a  brave  and  good 
man,  but  at  that  time  wholly  unfit  for  so  responsible 


HE    IS   PROMOTED   TO    MAJOR-GENERAL.  5/ 

a  duty."  It  were  needless  to  repeat  the  history  of 
that  day's  blunders.  Suffice  it  that  the  expedition 
proved  a  failure ;  and  our  troops,  sent  out  in  detach- 
ments  at  night,  fired  on  each  other  on  two  different 
occasions,  and  finally  retreated  before  the  rebels, 
after  the  loss  of  some  twenty  men,  including  among 
the  killed  Major  Winthrop  and  Lieut.  Greble. 

Many  blunders  of  greater  magnitude  have  been 
made  since ;  but  this  was  the  first,  and  it  attracted 
universal  attention.  Gen.  Pierce  was  so  mortified  at 
his  failure,  that,  at  the  end  of  the  three-months* 
campaign,  he  enlisted  for  three  years  as  a  private 
soldier,  with  a  determination  to  serve  his  country, 
which  proved  his  patriotism  and  his  courage,  and 
with  the  sensible  resolve  to  take  some  lessons  in 
obeying  orders  before  again  attempting  to  command. 
He  proved  so  excellent  a  soldier,  that,  by  dint  of 
merit,  he  rose  to  the  command  of  a  regiment,  and 
was  severely  wounded  while  riding  at  the  head  of 
his  command  in  one  of  the  battles  of  the  Penin 
sula. 

To  Gen.  Butler  the  defeat  at  Great  Bethel  was  full 
of  lessons.  He  felt  badly  about  it,  of  course ;  but 
reflection  led  him  to  the  conclusion  that  it  was  just 
what  might  have  been  expected  under  the  circum 
stances,  hampered  and  embarrassed  as  he  was  by 
want  of  means  to  make  aggressive  war,  and  with 
none  but  undisciplined  troops,  who  had  not  been 
under  fire,  hence  subject  to  panic  on  the  slightest 
occasion.  One  of  the  important  lessons  he  learned 
was  this,  that  raw  troops  are  not  to  be  relied  upon  in 


58  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

an  engagement,  unless  commanded  by  veteran  offi 
cers  in  whom  they  have  implicit  confidence. 

The  author  agrees  with  James  Parton,  in  the 
opinion  that  the  greatest  misfortune  to  the  country 
resulting  from  this  affair  was,  that,  through  the  exag 
gerations  and  misrepresentations  of  the  public  press 
at  a  time  when  public  attention  was  centred  almost 
exclusively  upon  him,  it  served  to  cast  a  shadow 
upon  the  fame  of  the  greatest  general  then  in  the 
service,  concealing  temporarily  his  real  merits.  Com 
plete  success  here,  following  his  brilliant  career  at 
Annapolis  and  Baltimore,  would  undoubtedly  have 
forced  him  into  such  prominent  popularity,  that  the 
American  people  would  have  demanded  for  him  a 
leading  position  in  the  conduct  of  the  war. 

Gen.  Butler  was  not  the  sort  of  man  that  permits 
a  single  repulse  to  cool  his  ardor,  or  destroy  his 
confidence  in  plans  he  knows  to  be  wisely  formed. 
He  still  had  unshaken  confidence  in  his  previously 
formed  opinion,  that  the  way  to  Richmond  was  by 
the  James  River ;  and  his  preparations  for  sweeping 
the  rebels  from  the  Virginia  part  of  the  Peninsula 
went  forward  with  unabated  activity.  But,  just  as  he 
felt  himself  prepared  to  make  a  formidable  advance, 
the  battle  of  Bull  Run  occurred  ;  and  this  disgraceful 
.disaster  was  followed  immediately  by  a  despatch  from 
Gen.  Scott  to  Gen.  Butler  to  send  to  Washington  the 
bulk  and  the  flower  of  his  army,  including  Col.  Baker 
and  his  command.  Of  course  the  expedition  was 
abandoned. 

The  news  of  the  battle  of  Bull  Run,  and  the  with- 


HE    IS    PROMOTED    TO    MAJOR-GENERAL.  59 

drawal  of  a  large  part  of  the  force  from  Fortress 
Monroe,  left  that  post  in  an  exposed  position  ;  but 
Gen.  Butler  was  not  frightened.  He  wrote:  "We 
have  heard  the  sad  news  -from  Manassas,  but  are 
neither  dismayed  nor  disheartened.  It  will  have  the 
same  good  effect  upon  the  army  in  general  that  Big 
Bethel  has  had  upon  my  division,  —  to  teach  wherein 
we  are  weak,  and  the  rebels  strong,  and  how  to  apply 
the  remedy  to  our  deficiencies.  Let  not  the  admin 
istration  be  discouraged ;  let  no  mourning  be  felt,  or 
compromises  be  made.  God  helping,  we  will  go 
through  to  assured  success.  But  let  us  have  no 
more  of  the  silk  glove  in  carrying  on  this  war.  Let 
these  men  be  considered  what  they  have  made  them 
selves,  —  our  enemies  ;  and  let  their  property  of  all 
kinds,  whenever  it  can  be  useful  to  us,  be  taken  on 
the  land,  as  they  take  ours  on  the  sea.  There  seems 
to  me  now  but  one  of  two  ways,  —  either  to  make  an 
advance  from  this  place  with  sufficient  force,  or  else, 
leaving  a  simple  garrison  here,  to  send  six  thousand 
men  that  might  be  spared  on  the  other  line,  or  still 
another  to  make  a  descent  upon  the  southern  coast. 
I  am  ready  and  desirous  to  move  forward  in  either." 

His  letter  won  him  the  friendship  of  the  radicals, 
his  old-time  political  foes,  but  was  not  at  all  popular 
among  the  conservatives  with  whom  he  had  affiliated 
all  his  life.  Lewis  Tappan  wrote  him  a  letter  full  of 
praise  for  his  patriotic  sentiments.  In  his  reply  he 
said,  "  I  have  endeavored  to  do  my  duty,  following 
the  best  light  I  have ;  and  the  event  must  be  in  the 
hands  of  Him  who  ordereth  all  things  well." 


6O  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.   BUTLER. 


SUPPRESSING  THE   LIQUOR-TRAFFIC. 

The  author  cannot  afford,  even  in  so  brief  a  work 
as  this  must  necessarily  be,  to  omit  an  account  of 
Gen.  Butler's  successful  efforts  in  suppressing  drunk 
enness  in  his  command.  He  observed  that  the  pick 
ets  would  often  go  on  duty  perfectly  sober,  and  come 
in  very  drunk.  He  could  not  guess  where  they  got 
the  liquor,  as  their  canteens  were  free  from  the  smell 
of  it.  It  was  finally  observed  that  they  carried  their 
guns  very  perpendicularly,  and  this  led  to  the  discov 
ery  that  the  barrels  were  full  of  whiskey.  The  gen 
eral,  on  instituting  a  vigorous  search,  found  that  the 
sutler  was  keeping  a  private  saloon.  It  was  short 
work  for  him,  and  he  did  it  personally,  to  knock  in 
the  heads  of  some  half-dozen  barrels  of  all  sorts  of 
liquors,  and  turn  the  contents  on  the  thirsty  ground. 
He  found  the  book  containing  the  private  account  of 
the  sutler  with  his  officers,  for  whiskey,  brandy,  &c., 
and  was  astonished  and  mortified  to  find  that  nearly 
every  officer  in  his  command  had  accounts  against 
him,  some  of  which  were  very  large.  The  drinking 
had  been  done  almost  solely  at  Newport  News  :  hence 
it  had  in  large  part  escaped  the  personal  notice  of  the 
general.  But,  on  getting  possession  of  this  book,  he 
went  to  Newport  News ;  and,  calling  his  officers  to 
gether,  he  exhibited  the  documentary  proof  of  their 
guilt,  and  then  proceeded  to  deliver  a  very  eloquent 
and  forcible  temperance-lecture.  He  pointed  out 
the  evils  of  such  conduct,  and  not  only  urged  that  a 


HE    IS    PROMOTED    TO    MAJOR-GENERAL.  6 1 

stop  be  put  to  drinking  in  his  department,  but  as 
sured  them  that  he  meant  to  put  a  stop  to  it.  He 
gave  his  solemn  pledge,  on  the  honor  of  an  officer 
and  a  man,  that  all  that  could  intoxicate  should  be 
banished  from  his  own  quarters ;  and  he  earnestly 
hoped  that  they  would  join  their  commander  in  this 
pledge.  They  did  so  unanimously,  with  a  single  ex 
ception  ;  and  the  resignation  of  this  obstinate  cap 
tain  was  instantly  handed  in  and  accepted. 

GENERAL  BUTLER  CAPTURES  FORT  HATTERAS. 

While  Gen.  Butler  was  chafing  under  nis  wrongs 
at  having  his  plans  all  spoiled  by  being  deprived  of  a 
large  part  of  his  force,  he  suddenly  found  himself 
relieved  of  his  command  by  Gen.  Wool.  The  order 
from  headquarters  relieving  him  did  not  assign  him 
to  duty  anywhere  else,  nor  even  instruct  him  to  re 
port  at  Washington.  He  therefore  remained  at  Fort 
Monroe,  and  accepted  service  under  Gen.  Wool,  who, 
recognizing  his  ability,  gave  him  the  command  of  the 
volunteer  forces,  comprising  five  regiments  and  two 
battalions.  He  had  been  planning  the  reduction  of 
Fort  Hatteras,  and  to  this  work  Gen.  Wool  now  as 
signed  him.  His  brilliant  success  in  this  expedition 
is  a  matter  of  familiar  history.  The  work  was  done 
promptly  and  done  well ;  but  he  now  found  himself 
out  of  employment,  and  West  Point  influence  had  by 
this  time  grown  so  potent  that  it  looked  as  though 
all  effective  volunteer  generals  were  to  be  either  re 
tired  from  the  service,  or  put  where  they  could  not 


62  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.   BUTLER. 

do  any  thing  to  demonstrate  their  superiority  over 
the  kid-glove  military  aristocracy. 

These  gentry  soon  found  that  Gen.  Butler  was  one 
of  the  irrepressibles.  He  obtained  from  the  Secre 
tary  of  War  permission  to  recruit  a  force  in  Massa 
chusetts  with  a  view  to  carrying  out  his  plan  of  driv 
ing  the  rebels  from  the  Peninsula ;  but  on  reaching 
Boston  he  was  informed  by  Gov.  Andrew,  that  he 
had  promised  Gen.  Sherman  all  new  regiments  that 
might  be  raised  in  that  State  for  some  time  to  come. 
Before  learning  this  he  had  announced  a  war  speech 
for  Faneuil  Hall ;  but,  finding  himself  checkmated 
by  the  wily  old  sachem  Tecumseh,  he  withdrew  the 
appointment,  and  left  for  Washington,  saying,  "  I  go 
for  a  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war,  as  evidence 
of  which  I  am  gone."  This  had  a  double  meaning. 
He  recognized  the  fact  that  he  had  two  hosts  of  foes 
to  contend  with, — the  armed  rebels,  and  the  regular 
army  ring  which  had  resolved  to  monopolize  all  the 
glory  and  other  advantages  incident  to  the  war.  He 
asked  the  Secretary  of  War  for  a  recruiting  commis 
sion  covering  the  whole  of  New  England.  It  was 
granted,  with  permission  to  raise  six  regiments,  and 
to  arm  them  as  he  pleased.  Lest  this  might  be 
revoked,  he  sought  and  obtained  the  President's 
indorsement  of  this  order.  On  returning  to  Boston, 
Gov.  Andrew  objected  to  his  entering  the  field  in 
competition  with  Gen.  Sherman,  and  a  coolness 
arose ;  but,  on  the  governor's  own  proposition,  Gen. 
Butler  agreed  to  wait  a  week,  for  Gen.  Sherman's 
regiments  to  be  filled,  he  in  the  mean  time  beginning 


HE    IS   PROMOTED    TO    MAJOR-GENERAL.  63 

operations  in  Maine.  In  the  mean  time,  by  order  of 
Gen.  Scott,  the  six  New-England  States  were  erected 
into  a  military  department,  and  placed  under  the 
command  of  Major-Gen.  B.  F.  Butler,  with  head 
quarters  at  Boston.  This  proved  offensive  to  Gov. 
Andrew,  who  held  that  Gen.  Butler  was  interfering 
with  his  prerogative  as  governor  and  commander- 
in-chief  of  the  militia  of  the  State ;  and  he  threw  all 
the  obstacles  possible  in  Gen.  Butler's  way,  refusing 
to  commission  his  officers,  &c.  The  quarrel  was  an 
unfortunate  one  ;  but  while  we  regard  Gov.  Andrew 
a  good  man,  who  had  the  best  interest  of  the  country 
at  heart,  he  was  not  entirely  free  from  those  faults  so 
common  to  all  men,  partisan  preference  and  personal 
ambition.  He  was  piqued  at  Gen.  Butler  for  over 
riding  his  authority  with  his  order  from  the  War 
Department ;  and  he  desired,  if  he  did  commission 
officers  in  Massachusetts  regiments,  such  officers 
should  be  selected  by  himself,  and  not  by  Gen.  But 
ler.  Gen.  Butler,  on  the  other  hand,  was  faithfully 
doing  his  duty  under  orders  from  the  War  Depart 
ment,  as  a  recruiting  officer,  with  the  expectation  of 
commanding  the  men  he  was  recruiting :  hence  he 
wanted  the  various  regiments  commanded  by  good 
officers,  men  whom  he  knew  and  in  whom  he  could 
have  confidence.  Hard  words  were  said.  The  news 
papers  magnified  and  misrepresented  the  matter. 
The  result  was  such  delay  of  Gen.  Butler's  opera 
tions  that  the  carrying-out  of  his  scheme  to  clear 
the  Peninsula  of  rebels  fell  to  Gen.  Dix,  who  got 
the  glory  which  would,  and  rightfully  should,  have 
rested  upon  the  head  of  Gen.  Butler. 


64  LIFE   OF    BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

He  went  to  Washington  to  see  what  there  was  for 
him  to  do.  He  was  asked  to  report  a  plan  for  the 
capture  of  Mobile.  He  did  so  :  it  was  accepted,  and 
he  ordered  to  enter  upon  the  expedition.  He  re 
turned  to  Boston,  started  Gen.  Phelps  for  Ship  Island  ; 
back  to  Washington,  to  find  his  plan  out  of  favor, 
and  himself  called  upon  to  prepare  a  plan  for  a  Texas 
campaign.  He  did  so ;  and  Gen.  McClellan  said 
it  was  able,  lucid,  and  complete.  Home  again  for 
more  troops,  for  Texas  this  time.  "  The  Constitu 
tion,"  which  had  borne  Gen.  Phelps  to  Ship  Island, 
had  returned.  He  resolved  to  send  her  to  Texas, 
with  two  regiments.  He  had  got  them  on  board, 
when  a  despatch  from  Washington  was  received.  It 
read,  " Don  t  sail!  Disembark!" 

The  cause  of  this  sudden  change  of  programme 
was  the  demand  of  Great  Britain  for  the  surrender 
of  Mason  and  Slidell,  who  had  been  captured  on  a 
British  vessel,  and  were  now  prisoners  in  Fort  War 
ren.  It  was  probable  that  war  with  England  might 
demand  his  services,  and  the  services  of  his  troops 
in  Canada.  He  was  ready  for  this.  He  opposed 
strongly  the  idea  of  yielding  to  the  demand  for  the 
surrender  of  these  arch  traitors  in  obedience  to  an 
insulting  threat  from  an  arrogant  nation,  which  had 
shown  itself  in  sympathy  with  the  rebels  from  the 
first.  He,  with  many  others,  thought  that  a  war  with 
England,  if  it  should  come  to  that,  would  unify  and 
strengthen  us  as  a  nation.  He  said,  "  I  can  raise 
fifty  thousand  additional  men  in  New  England  alone, 
who  will  follow  me  into  Canada  before  England  can 


HE    IS    PROMOTED    TO    MAJOR-GENERAL.  65 

land  a  single  soldier  there,  and  take  possession  of 
and  hold  that  province  against  the  combined  fleet  of 
Great  Britain."  A  different  policy  prevailed,  how 
ever.  Mason  and  Slidell  were  surrendered,  and  this 
new  war-cloud  passed  away ;  and  Gen.  Butler  sailed 
with  his  command  to  Fortress  Monroe,  where  they 
were  destined  to  remain  inactive  for  a  long  time,  due 
partly  to  an  important  change  in  the  War  Office,  Mr. 
Cameron  going  out,  and  Mr.  Stanton  coming  in. 

Secretary  Stanton  entered  upon  his  new  duties 
with  a  determination  to  prosecute  the  war  with  vigor  : 
hence  he  naturally  sought  an  important  field  of 
operations  for  so  brave  and  energetic  a  general  as 
Butler.  On  the  roth  of  January,  1862,  Secretary 
Stanton  electrified  Gen.  Butler  by  asking  him  the 
question,  "  Why  can't  New  Orleans  be  taken  ? " 

"It  can"  responded  the  general.  "  I've  thought  of 
it  before." 

"  Prepare  a  plan,  said  tne  secretary ;  and  Gen. 
Butler  set  to  work  in  high  hopes  that  now  an  expedi 
tion  worthy  of  his  metal  was  about  to  be  offered  him. 

Gen.  McClellan  advised  against  it,  saying,  "  It  will 
take  fifty  thousand  men,  and  that  force  cannot  be 
spared." 

Gen.  Butler  went  to  the  White  House ;  and,  by  dint 
of  such  eloquence  and  logic  as  he  alone  knows  how 
to  use,  he  won  the  President.  His  joy  almost  over 
came  him.  But  Gen.  McClellan  refused  to  give  him 
a  single  soldier  from  the  idle  army  of  two  hundred 
thousand  then  at  Washington.  But  his  troops  at 
Fort  Monroe  were  available,  ancUhe  had  eighty-five 


66  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.   BUTLER. 

hundred  still  in  New  England  ;  and  finally,  after  some 
delays,  the  Department  of  the  Gulf  was  created,  and 
Major-Gen.  Benjamin  F.  Butler  assigned  to  the  com 
mand. 

On  the  24th  of  February  he  left  Washington  for 
his  new  field  of  labor,  —  a  field  yet  to  be  conquered. 
His  force  consisted  of  15,255  men,  mostly  raw  troops 
from  New  England,  but  including  the  2ist  Indiana, 
4th  Wisconsin,  and  6th  Michigan,  —  all  veterans. 

His  destination  and  plans  were  a  profound  secret 
between  the  heads  of  the  departments  at  Washing 
ton,  himself,  Major  Strong,  an4  Lieut.  Weitzel  of  his 
staff. 

The  general's  wife  had  shared  his  camp-life  from 
the  first,  and  she  bravely  volunteered  to  accompany 
him  on  this  perilous  expedition. 


THE  CAPTURE  OF  NEW  ORLEANS.        6/ 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  CAPTURE  OF  NEW  ORLEANS. 

AFTER  a  stormy  voyage  of  a  month,  and  many 
adventures,  Gen.  Butler  landed  on  Ship  Island, 
a  strip  of  land  seven  miles  in  length,  and  less  than 
one  in  width,  situated  sixty-five  miles  below  New 
Orleans.  It  was  now  the  last  of  March,  and  in  this 
Southern  clime  the  weather  was  very  sultry ;  insects 
were  numerous,  and  but  few  comforts  to  be  had  to 
offset  the  numerous  discomforts.  But  Gen.  Butler 
and  his  men  were  not  pleasure-seekers :  they  were 
soldiers  whose  determined  purpose  it  was  to  capture 
and  hold  New  Orleans.  Capt.  Farragut'was  there 
with  his  fleet,  ready  to  co-operate  in  this  grand 
scheme  ;  and  preparations  were  entered  upon  'with 
vigor.  Capt.  Farragut  said  he  could  be  ready  to 
move  on  Forts  Jackson  and  St.  Philip  in  a  week ; 
and  Gen.  Butler  undertook  to  be  ready  also  to  move 
in  that  time,  though  an  immense  amount  of  work 
was  to  be  done.  He  worked  night  and  day,  heartily 
seconded  by  his  officers  and  soldiers. 

The  obstacles  between  these  land  and  naval  forces 
and  the  city  of  New  Orleans  were  many  and  for- 


68  LIFE   OF    BENJAMIN    F.   BUTLER. 

midable, — the  two  forts  mounting  a  hundred  and 
twenty  heavy  guns,  fully  manned,  and  amply  supplied 
with  ammunition ;  an  immense  cable  stretched  across 
the  channel,  immediately  below  Fort  Jackson,  which 
must  be  cut  before  a  vessel  could  pass  that  point ; 
and  above  this,  the  rebel  fleet  of  vessels,  iron-clads, 
and  rams. 

The  rebel  commanders  felt  confident  that  they 
could  defend  the  approaches  to  the  city  against  the 
combined  naval  force  of  the  world  :  hence  they  were 
disposed  to  laugh  at  the  preparations  of  Capt.  Farra- 
gut  and  Gen.  Butler. 

On  the  1 7th  of  April  the  fleet  stood  in  battle 
array,  four  miles  below  Fort  Jackson.  The  guns 
of  the  fort  opened  upon  it,  but  Capt.  Farragut  did 
not  reply  for  some  hours.  He  and  his  men  had 
enough  to  do  to  destroy  the  numerous  fire-rafts  sent 
down  upon  them  by  the  rebels  ;  but  in  the  afternoon 
a  few  of  the  mortar-boats  were  allowed  to  open  on 
the  fort.  JThe  next  morning  at  daybreak  the  battle 
began  in  earnest ;  the  mortar-boats  having  moved 
up,  and  taken  positions  from  one  and  a  half  to  two 
and  a  half  miles  from  Fort  St.  Philip.  A  news 
paper-correspondent  who  witnessed  the  battle  from 
a  lofty  position  on  the  flagship  describes  it  as  highly 
interesting  and  grand.  Immense  balls  were  whiz 
zing  through  the  air,  and  falling  like  meteoric  globes 
about  the  boats,  plashing  the  water  in  all  directions. 
The  masts  of  the  vessels  were  crowded  with  men, 
eager  to  see  what  effect  our  shots  were  having  upon 
the  fort ;  and,  when  a  two-hundred-pound  shell  would 


THE  CAPTURE  OF  NEW  ORLEANS.        69 

drop  in  among  the  rebel  gunners,  a  shout  would  go 
up  from  these  spectators.  The  battle  raged  una 
bated  for  two  days,  when  Gen.  Butler,  who  had  been 
an  anxious  looker-on  from  below,  visited  Capt.  Farra- 
gut  on  the  flagship  "  Hartford ;  "  and  after  a  confer 
ence  it  was  decided  that  the  cable  must  be  cut,  and 
the  forts  passed  in  the  night  under  cover  of  darkness, 
for  it  was  now  evident  that  they  could  not  be  reduced 
by  bombardment.  On  the  next  night  Capt.  Bell 
with  two  gunboats,  the  "  Pinola  "  and  "  Itasca,"  ran 
up  to  the  cable,  and  cut  it. 

During  this  operation,  which  lasted  an  hour  and  a 
half,  Capt.  Porter  kept  up  a  furious  bombardment 
of  the  forts,  with  a  view  of  attracting  attention  from 
Capt.  Bell's  little  fleet ;  but  this  was  not  successful. 
Capt.  Bell  was  discovered,  and  a  heavy  fire  opened 
on  him  from  the  rebel  batteries.  He  paid  no  atten 
tion  to  it,  however ;  but  he  and  his  brave  men  worked 
with  determined  energy,  until  the  mighty  iron  cable 
parted,  leaving  the  channel  of  the  river  again  naviga 
ble.  He  then  dropped  down,  and  made  report  to  his 
commander. 

Preparations  now  went  forward,  looking  to  the 
desparate  venture  of  running  the  gauntlet  between 
these  two  forts.  The  battle,  however,  still  continued 
with  unabated  vigor  on  both  sides.  It  lasted  a  hun 
dred  and  forty-nine  hours. 

At  two  o'clock  on  the  night  of  the  23d  of  April 
the  signal  was  given,  and  the  fleet  began  to  move. 
Every  thing  had  been  prepared  for  the  most  rapid 
fire  possible  during  the  hour  and  a  quarter  necessary 


7O  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.   BUTLER. 

to  pass  the  forts  ;  and  during  that  time  from  five 
to  eight  of  those  monster  two-hundred-pound  shells 
were  in  the  air  constantly,  and  the  roar,  the  crash, 
the  smoke,  were  terrific.  Just  as  the  first  ship,  "The 
Cayuga,"  passed  the  cable,  the  design  was  obvious 
to  the  rebels ;  and  both  forts  opened  on  the  fleet 
with  every  gun.  The  bombs  and  shot  fell  around 
the  ships  like  hail ;  but  the  ships  and  gunboats  held 
on  their  way,  each  giving  the  fort  a  broadside  as  it 
passed.  The  forts  passed,  Capt.  Farragut  found 
himself  hotly  engaged  by  the  rebel  fleet  of  ships, 
gunboats,  and  iron-clad  monsters,  including  the 
"Morgan"  and  "Manassas."  Numerous  fire-rafts 
were  also  hurled  upon  him ;  but  he  was  fully  pre 
pared  for  these,  hence  but  little  damage  was  done 
by  them.  In  the  midst  of  the  battle,  the  flagship 
took  fire. 

"This  [says  a  correspondent  of  "The  Herald"]  was  the 
crowning  moment  of  this  unparalleled  fight.  It  was  beyond 
description.  Twenty  mortars,  a  hundred  and  forty-two  guns  in 
the  fleet,  a  hundred  and  twenty  on  the  forts,  the  crash  of 
splinters,  the  explosion  of  boilers  and  magazines,  the  cries,  the 
shrieks  of  scalded  and  drowning  men,  the  belching  flashes  of 
the  guns,  the  blazing  rafts,  the  burning  steamboats,  the  river  full 
of  fire,  —  all  combined  to  produce  a  spectacle  of  unparalleled 
grandeur  and  terror.  But,  if  it  was  terrible,  it  was  of  short 
duration ;  for  the  forts  were  passed,  and  the  rebel  fleet  destroyed 
and  captured,  in  an  hour  and  a  half.  *  The  Cayuga'  had  been 
struck  forty-two  times,  damaging  her  rigging  considerably ;  but 
Capt.  Bailey  ran  ashore  five  miles  above  the  forts,  and  captured 
a  quarantine  station,  and,  as  the  other  ships  came  to  anchor, 
repeated  shouts  of  victory  rent  the  morning  air.  It  is  a  re 
markable  fact,  that,  except  'The  Itasca'  and  <Varuna,'not  a 


THE  CAPTURE  OF  NEW  ORLEANS.        71 

vessel  in  the  fleet  had  been  seriously  injured.  Gen.  Butler 
witnessed  this  splendid  naval  engagement  from  the  deck  of 
*  The  Saxon ; '  and,  when  it  ended,  he  dropped  down  to  his 
transports,  which  were  put  in  motion,  with  the  purpose  of  land 
ing  the  troops  back  of  and  above  Fort  St.  Philip ;  for  it  will  be 
borne  in  mind  that  the  forts  had  not  been  captured.  On  the 
morning  of  the  26th,  Gen.  Butler  having  landed,  the  forts  were 
invested  on  all  sides.  The  same  evening  news  reached  the 
general  that  Capt.  Farragut  had  anchored  his  fleet  in  the  harbor 
of  New  Orleans ;  and,  leaving  Gen.  Williams  in  command  of 
his  troops,  he,  in  company  with  Capt.  Boggs,  went  up  to  the 
city.  That  night  a  large  body  of  rebel  troops  came  in,  and 
surrendered  to  Butler's  forces  ;  and  the  next  morning  the  officers 
of  the  forts  made  a  formal  surrender  to  Capt.  Porter.  The 
victory  was  now  complete,  and  Gen.  Butler  was  master  of  New 
Orleans.  Justice  requires  that  the  glory  of  this  grand  achieve 
ment  should  be  shared  mutually  by  Gen.  Butler  and  Capt.  Far 
ragut." 

Parton  says, — 

"  If  the  splendid  daring  of  Capt.  Farragut  and  his  fleet  de 
prived  Gen.  Butler  of  his  lieutenant-generalship,  it  is  but  just 
to  him  to  declare  that  the  prompt  and  unexpected  landing  of 
the  troops  in  the  rear  of  Fort  St.  Philip  compelled  the  surrender 
of  the  forts.  Fighting  wins  laurels,  but  a  manoeuvre  that  ac 
complishes  results  without  fighting  also  merits  recognition." 

Yes ;  and  when  the  historian  shall  write  for  truly 
civilized  readers,  the  fame  of  th6  commander  who 
achieves  triumphs  without  bloodshed  will  rank  far 
above  that  of  the  chieftain  who  hurls  his  army  upon 
the  foe  regardless  of  danger  to  himself  or  others. 


72  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
GEN.  BUTLER'S  CAREER  IN  NEW  ORLEANS. 

THE  chief  characteristics  of  Gen.  Butler  are 
honesty  of  purpose,  calm  deliberation,  wise  and 
comprehensive. judgment,  and  firm  and  prompt  execu 
tive  force.  He  does  nothing  hastily,  nothing  that 
he  thinks  is  wrong ;  but,  when  his  mind  is  made  up, 
he  acts  with  vigor :  hence,  when  placed  in  an  impor 
tant  position,  those  who  agree  with  him  admire  him, 
but  those  who  oppose  his  views  hate  him.  There  can 
be  no  middle  ground  of  indifference  from  which  to 
contemplate  a  character  so  great  and  so  positive  as 
he.  In  the  light  of  this  analysis,  it  is  easy  to  under 
stand  why  his  most  admirable,  almost  faultless, 
administration  at  New  Orleans  should  have  provoked 
such  bitter  denunciations  and  extravagant  misrepre 
sentations  from  the  rebels  and  their  sympathizers  in 
this  country  and  Europe,  while  it  won  him  the  grati 
tude  of  the  President  and  all  intelligent  patriots 
throughout  the  whole  country.  The  population  of 
New  Orleans  was  composed  almost  wholly  of  aristo 
crats  and  roughs.  With  rare  exceptions  the  people 
were  extremely  excitable  and  intensely  disloyal. 


HIS    CAREER    IN    NEW    ORLEANS.  73 

When  it  was  known  in  the  city  that  the  forts  had 
surrendered,  the  rebel  navy  had  been  destroyed,  and 
Gen.  Butler  was  on  his  way  to  take  possession  of  the 
city,  ex-senator  Soule  advised  the  burning  of  all 
the  cotton  and  other  merchandise  on  the  levee  and 
the  steamers  in  the  harbor,  and  with  his  own  hand  he 
began  the  work  of  destruction  by  applying  a  lighted 
torch  to  a  pile  of  cotton-bales  belonging  to  himself ; 
and  it  is  estimated  that  not  less  than  two  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  bales  of  cotton,  besides  an  immense 
amount  of  other  property,  were  destroyed.  And, 
when  Capt.  Farragut  came  in  view  of  the  city,  the 
whole  seven  miles  of  wharf  was  a  sea  of  fire  ;  and  but 
for  the  active  efforts  of  what  was  styled  the  "  Euro 
pean  Brigade,"  composed  of  non-residents,  the  city 
would  have  suffered  general  pillage  and  destruction 
before  our  forces  landed. 

Capt.  Farragut  sent  a  message  to  Mayor  Monroe, 
demanding  the  formal  surrender  of  the  city,  and  the 
running-up  of  the  stars  and  stripes  instead  of  the 
rebel  flag  on  the  public  buildings.  The  reply  was  a 
peremptory  refusal  from  Gen.  Lovell,  the  rebel  com 
mander,  who  said,  "he  had  evacuated  the  city,  but 
refused  to  surrender  it ;  and  if  Capt.  Farragut  chose 
to  shell  the  town,  destroying  women  and  children,  he 
was  at  liberty  to  do  so." 

This  was  simply  contemptible  and  insulting ;  but 
he  was  assured  that  the  object  was  to  protect  the 
city  and  its  people,  not  destroy. 

Gen.  Lovell  immediately  left  the  city,  after  deliver 
ing  himself  of  this  chivalrous  speech ;  and  the  mayor 


74  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

refused  to  hoist  the  American  flag,  adding,  "There 
lives  not  in  this  city  a  wretched  renegade  who  would 
so  far  demean  himself  as  to  lower  the  emblem  of  our 
aspirations."  Capt.  Farragut  sent  a  force  on  shore 
with  instructions  to  raise  the  emblem  of  the  United 
States  on  the  Custom  House  and  other  public  build 
ings,  which  was  done ;  and  the  mob  were  informed, 
that,  if  the  flags  were  interfered  with,  the  buildings 
would  be  instantly  fired  upon  from  the  fleet. 

On  Sunday,  while  the  men  on  board  were  at  wor 
ship,  the  notorious  gambler  Mumford,  assisted  by 
three  others,  tore  down  the  flag  from  its  staff  on  the 
Mint,  and,  after  dragging  it  through  the  street  till  it 
was  covered  with  filth,  tore  it  in  pieces. 

The  men  on  the  lookout  of  "The  Pensacola"  saw 
the  act,  and  pulled  the  cords  of  the  guns  all  along  the 
broadside,  but  the  wafers  had  been  removed,  and  the 
guns  were  not  discharged,  which  fortunate  circum 
stance  saved  many  lives. 

"The  Picayune"  next  morning  glorified  the  act, 
saying,  — 

"  The  names  of  the  men  who  distinguished  themselves  by 
gallantly  tearing  down  the  flag  that  has  been  surreptitiously 
hoisted  are  W.  B.  Mumford,  Lieut.  N.  Holmes,  Sergeant  Burns, 
and  James  Reed.  These  men  deserve  great  credit  for  their 
patriotic  act,"  &c. 

Gen.  Butler  arrived  a  few  hours  after  the  flag  had 
been  torn  down ;  and  if  he  had  been  the  rash  and 
cruel  man  he  was  afterwards  described  by  the  rebels, 
North  and  South,  he  would  have  ordered  the  city 
shelled  for  such  an  outrage. 


HIS    CAREER    IN    NEW    ORLEANS.  75 

He  saw  clearly  that  such  a  lawless  spirit  must  be 
suppressed :  hence  he  advised  the  captain  to  threaten 
bombardment  if  any  more  insults  should  be  offered 
the  American  flag ;  and,  as  a  preliminary,  he  ordered 
the  women  and  children  to  leave  town. 

On  the  ist  of  May,  Gen.  Butler,  having  returned 
to  his  transports  to  bring  his  command  to  the  city, 
landed  at  New  Orleans  with  his  entire  force. 

Before  permitting  the  troops  to  go  on  shore,  the 

following  was  read  :  — 

>• 

HEADQUARTERS  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  GULF, 

NEW  ORLEANS,  May  i,  1862. 
GENERAL  ORDER  No.  15. 

I.  In  anticipation  of  the  immediate  disembarkation  of  the 
troops  of  this  command  amid  the  temptations  and  inducements 
of  a  large  city,  all  plundering  of  public  or  private  property,  by 
any  person  or  persons,  is  hereby  forbidden  under  the  severest 
penalties. 

II.  No  officer  or  soldier  will  absent  himself  from  his  station, 
without  arms  or  alone,  under  any  pretext  whatever; 

III.  The  commanders  of  regiments  and  companies  will  be 
held  responsible  for  the  strict  execution  of  these  orders. 

By  command  of 

MAJOR-GEN.  BUTLER. 
GEORGE  C.  STRONG,  A.  A.  G. 

The  general  also  gave  strict  orders  that  no  officer 
or  soldier  should  resent  any  insult,  or  reply  to  any 
taunt. 

Gen.  Butler  landed  with  the  first  detachment,  and 
marched  to  the  Custom  House  to  the  music  of  a 
band  which  played  "  The  Star-spangled  Banner." 
The  crowd  which  filled  the  streets,  and  followed  the 
line  of  march,  showered  profane  and  vulgar  epithets 


76  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

upon  him,  and  cheered  for  Beauregard;  but  no  notice 
was  taken  of  them.  The  following  proclamation, 
which  was  set  up  and  printed  by  Union  soldiers  in 
the  "True  Delta"  office,  —  the  proprietors  of  the 
office  refusing  to  do  the  job, — furnishes  a  clear 
insight  into  Gen.  Butler's  policy  :  — 

PROCLAMATION   OF   GEN.   BUTLER. 

HEADQUARTERS  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  GULF, 
NEW  ORLEANS,  May  i,  1862.  t 

The  city  of  New  Orleans  and  its  environs,  with  all  its 
interior  and  exterior  defences,  having  surrendered  to  the  com 
bined  naval  and  land  forces  of  the  United  States,  and  being 
now  in  the  occupation  of  the  forces  of  the  United  States,  who 
have  come  to  restore  order,  maintain  public  tranquillity,  and  en 
force  peace  and  quiet  under  the  laws  and  constitution  of  the 
United  States,  the  major-general  commanding  hereby  proclaims 
the  object  and  purposes  of  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  in  thus  taking  possession  of  New  Orleans  and  the  State 
of  Louisiana,  and  the  rules  and  regulations  by  which  the  laws 
of  the  United  States  will  be  for  the  present,  and  during  the 
state  of  war,  enforced  and  maintained  for  the  plain  guidancg  of 
all  good  citizens  of  the  United  States,  as  well  as  all  others  who 
may  have  heretofore  been  in  rebellion  against  theTr  authority. 

Thrice  before  has  the  city  of  New  Orleans  been  rescued  from 
the  hands  of  a  foreign  government,  and  still  more  calamitous 
domestic  insurrection,  by  the  money  and  arms  of  the  United 
States.  It  has  of  late  been  under  the  military  control  of  the 
rebel  forces ;  and  at  each  time,  in  the  judgment  of  the  com 
manders  of  the  military  forces  holding  it,  it  has  been  found 
necessary  to  preserve  order  and  maintain  quiet  by  an  adminis 
tration  of  martial  law.  Even  during  the  interim  from  its  evac 
uation  by  the  rebel  soldiers,  and  its  actual  possession  by  the 
soldiers  of  the  United  States,  the  civil  authorities  have  found 


HIS    CAREER    IN    NEW    ORLEANS.  ?/ 

It  necessary  to  call  for  the  intervention  of  an  armed  body, 
known  as  the  European  Legion,  to  preserve  the  public  tran 
quillity.  The  commanding  general,  therefore,  will  cause  the 
city  to  be  guarded  until  the  restoration  of  the  United  States 
authority  and  his  further  orders  by  martial  law. 

All  persons  in  arms  against  the  United  States  are  required 
to  surrender  themselves,  with  their  arms,  equipments,  and  muni 
tions  of  war.  The  body  known  as  the  European  Legion,  not 
being  understood  to  be  in  arms  against  the  United  States,  but 
organized  to  protect  the  lives  and  property  of  the  citizens,  are 
invited  to  still  co-operate  with  the  forces  of  the  United  States 
to  that  end,  and,  so  acting,  will  not  be  included  in  the  terms  of 
this  order,  but  will  report  to  these  headquarters. 

All  ensigns,  flags,  devices,  tending  to  uphold  any  authority 
whatever,  save  the  flags  of  the  United  States  and  those  of 
foreign  consulates,  must  not  be  exhibited,  but  suppressed.  The 
American  ensign,  the  emblem  of  the  United  States,  must  be 
treated  with  the  utmost  deference  and  respect  by  all  persons, 
under  pain  of  severe  punishment. 

All  persons  well  disposed  towards  the  Government  of  the 
United  States,  who  shall  renew  the  oath  of  allegiance,  will  re 
ceive  a  safeguard  of  protection  to  their  persons  and  property 
from  the  army  of  the  United  States,  and  the  violation  of  such 
safeguard  will  be  punishable  with  death.  All  persons  still  hold 
ing  allegiance  to  the  Confederate  States  will  be  deemed  rebels 
against  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  and  regarded 
and  treated  as  enemies  thereof. 

All  foreigners  not  naturalized,  and  claiming  allegiance  to 
their  respective  governments,  and  not  having  made  oath  of 
allegiance  to  the  Government  of  the  Confederate  States,  will  be 
protected  in  their  persons  and  property,  as  heretofore,  under 
the  laws  of  the  United  States.  All  persons  who  may  have 
heretofore  given  adherence  to  the  supposed  government  of  the 
Confederate  States,  or  been  in  their  service,  who  shall  lay  down 
or  deliver  up  their  arms,  return  to  peaceful  occupations,  and 
preserve  quiet  and  order,  holding  no  further  correspondence, 
nor  giving  aid  and  comfort  to  enemies  of  the  United  States, 


78  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.   BUTLER. 

will  not  be  disturbed  in  their  persons  or  property,  except  so  far 
under  the  orders  of  the  commanding  general  as  the  exigencies 
of  the  public  service  mtiy  render  necessary. 

Keepers  of  all  public  property,  whether  State,  National,  or 
Confederate,  such  as  collections  of  art,  libraries,  and  museums, 
as  well  as  all  public  buildings,  all  munitions  of  war,  and  armed 
vessels,  will  at  once  make  full  returns  thereof  to  these  head 
quarters.  All  manufacturers  of  arms  and  munitions  of  war  will 
report  to  these  headquarters  their  kind  and  places  of  business. 
All  the  rights  of  property,  of  whatever  kind,  will  be  held  in 
violate,  subject  only  to  the  laws  of  the  United  States.  All  the 
inhabitants  are  enjoined  to  pursue  their  usual  avocations.  All 
shops  and  places  of  amusement  are  to  be  kept  open  in  the 
accustomed  manner,  and  services  are  to  be  held  in  the  churches 
and  religious  houses,  as  in  times  of  profound  peace. 

Keepers  of  all  public  houses  and  drinking-saloons  are  to 
report  their  names  and  numbers  to  the  office  of  the  provost- 
marshal  ;  and  they  will  then  receive  a  license,  and  be  held 
responsible  for  all  disorders  and  disturbances  arising  in  their 
respective  places. 

Sufficient  force  will  be  kept  in  the  city  to  preserve  order  and 
maintain  the  laws.  The  killing  of  American  soldiers  by  any 
disorderly  person  or  mob  is  simply  assassination  and  murder, 
and  not  war,  and  will  be  so  regarded  and  punished.  The  owner 
of  any  house  in  which  such  murder  shall  be  committed  will  be 
held  responsible  therefor,  and  the  house  be  liable  to  be  de 
stroyed  by  the  military  authority.  All  disorders,  disturbances 
of  the  peace,  and  crimes  of  an  aggravated  nature,  interfering 
with  the  forces  or  laws  of  the  United  States,  will  be  referred  to 
a  military  court  for  trial  and  punishment.  Other  misdemeanors 
will  be  subject  to  the  municipal  authority,  if  it  desires  to  act 

Civil  causes  between  party  and  party  will  be  referred  to  the 
ordinary  tribunals. 

The  levy  and  collection  of  taxes,  save  those  imposed  by  the 
laws  of  the  United  States,  are  suppressed,  except  those  for 
keeping  in  repair  and  lighting  the  streets,  and  for  sanitary  pur 
poses.  These  are  to  be  collected  in  the  usual  manner. 


HIS    CAREER    IN    NEW    ORLEANS.  /Q 

The  circulation  of  Confederate  bonds,  evidences  of  debt 
(except  notes  in  the  similitude  of  bank-notes),  issued  by  the 
Confederate  States,  or  scrip,  or  any  trade  in  the  same,  is  for 
bidden.  It  has  been  represented  to  the  commanding  general, 
by  the  civil  authorities,  that  these  Confederate  notes,  in  the 
form  of  bank-notes,  in  a  great  measure  are  the  only  substitutes 
for  money  which  the  people  have  been  allowed  to  have,  and 
that  great  distress  would  ensue  among  the  poorer  classes  if  the 
circulation  of  such  notes  should  be  suppressed.  Such  circula 
tion,  therefore,  will  be  permitted  so  long  as  any  one  will  be 
inconsiderate  enough  to  receive  them,  until  further  orders. 

No  publication  of  newspapers,  pamphlets,  or  handbills, 
giving  accounts  of  the  movements  of  the  soldiers  of  the  United 
States  within  this  department,  reflecting  in  any  way  upon  the 
United  States,  intended  in  any  way  to  influence  the  public 
mind  against  the  United  States,  will  be  permitted  ;  and  all  arti 
cles  on  war  news,  editorial  comments,  or  correspondence,  mak 
ing  comments  upon  the  movements  of  the  armies  of  the  United 
States,  must  be  submitted  to  the  examination  of  an  officer,  who 
will  be  detailed  for  that  purpose  from  these  headquarters.  The 
transmission  of  all  communications  by  telegraph  will  be  under 
the  charge  of  an  officer  detailed  from  these  headquarters. 

The  armies  of  the  United  States  came  here  not  to  destroy, 
but  to  restore  order  out  of  chaos,  to  uphold  the  government 
and  laws  in  the  place  of  the  "  passage  "  of  men.  To  this  end, 
therefore,  the  efforts  of  all  well  disposed  are  invited,  to  have 
every  species  of  disorder  quelled. 

If  any  soldier  of  the  United  States  should  so  far  forget  his 
duty  or  his  flag  as  to  commmit  outrage  upon  any  person  or 
property,  the  commanding  general  requests  his  name  to  be  in 
stantly  reported  to  the  provost-guard,  so  that  he  may  be  pun 
ished,  and  his  wrongful  act  redressed.  The  municipal  authority, 
so  far  as  the  police  of  the  city  and  environs  are  concerned,  is 
to  extend  as  before  indicated  until  suspended. 

All  assemblages  of  persons  in  the  streets,  either  by  day  or 
night,  tend  to  disorder,  and  are  forbidden. 

The  various  companies  composing  the  Fire  Department  of 


8O  LIFE   OF    BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

New  Orleans  will  be  permitted  to  retain  their  organizations,  and 
are  to  report  to  the  provost-marshal,  so  that  they  may  be  known, 
and  not  interfered  with  in  their  duties. 

And  finally,  it  may  be  sufficient  to  add,  without  further 
enumeration,  that  all  the  requirements  of  martial  law  will  be 
imposed  so  long  as,  in  judgment  of  the  United  States  authori 
ties,  it  may  be  necessary;  and,  while  it  is  desired  by  these 
authorities  to  exercise  this  government  mildly,  and  after  the 
usages  of  the  past,  it  must  not  be  supposed  that  it  will  not  be 
rigorously  and  firmly  administered  as  the  occasion  calls  for  it. 
By  command  of 

MAJOR-GEN.   BUTLER. 
GEORGE  B.  STRONG,  A.A.G.,  Chief  of  Staff. 

The  next  day  the  general  established  his  head 
quarters  in  the  St.  Charles  Hotel,  and  notified  Mayor 
Monroe  that  he  should  be  glad  to  have  a  conference 
with  him.  At  two  o'clock,  the  mayor,  Pierre  Soule, 
and  quite  a  party  of  leading  men,  waited  upon  the 
general  in  the  ladies'  parlor,  which  he  had  taken  for 
his  office. 

The  interview  had  scarce  begun  when  an  aide  to 
Gen.  Williams,  who  was  in  command  of  the  guard 
which  had  been  placed  about  the  hotel,  came  in  to 
say  that  the  general  feared  he  would  not  be  able  to 
control  the  mob.  Gen.  Butler  replied,  — 

"  Give  my  compliments  to  Gen.  Williams,  and  tell 
him,  if  he  cannot  control  the  mob,  to  open  upon 
them  with  artillery." 

"  Don't  do  that,"  exclaimed  Mayor  Monroe  and 
several  other  Southern  men. 

"  Why  not,  gentlemen  ?  The  mob  must  be  con 
trolled.  We  can't  have  disturbance  in  the  street." 

"  Shall  I  go  out,  and  speak  to  the  people?"  asked 
the  mayor. 


HIS  CAREER  IN  NEW  ORLEANS.          8 1 

"As  you  please  :  I  only  insist  on  having  order." 

The  mayor  and  Mr.  Soule  made  short  speeches, 
but  it  had  very  little  effect. 

The  mayor  then  said  to  Gen.  Butler,  "You  were 
formerly  an  advocate  of  the  rights  of  the  South. 
We  looked  upon  you  as  our  special  friend  and  cham 
pion." 

"  Stop,  sir,"  said  the  general :  "  I  was  always  a 
friend  of  Southern  rights,  but  a  foe  to  Southern 
wrongs." 

At  this  point  Lieut.  Kinsman  of  the  general's  staff 
came  in,  accompanied  by  Judge  Summers,  a  loyal 
citizen,  who  had  fled  to  the  fleet  for  protection  from 
the  mob,  and  now  had  ventured  ashore  under  the 
lieutenant's  protection,  and  whose  life  had  been 
threatened,  and  was  only  saved  by  the  officer's  valor 
and  courage,  while  getting  from  the  landing  to  the 
hotel. 

The  judge  was  so  badly  frightened  that  he  did  not 
feel  safe  even  in  the  St.  Charles ;  and  the  general 
ordered  the  officer  to  summon  a  file  of  soldiers,  and 
escort  him  to  the  Custom  House. 

On  reaching  the  side  door,  the  judge  thought  the 
fifty  soldiers  inadequate  to  the  task  of  protecting 
him  from  the  immense  and  highly  excited  mob ;  and 
he  begged  the-  lieutenant  not  to  attempt  to  take  him 
to  the  Custom  House.  "But  my  orders  are  posi 
tive,"  he  replied  :  "  I  must  obey."  The  soldiers  were 
formed  in  two  lines,  four  feet  apart,  with  two  in  front 
and  two  behind,  with  the  lieutenant  and  the  judge  in 
the  centre.  Thus  they  marched,  keeping  the  mob 


82  LIFE   OF   BENJAMIN   F.   BUTLER. 

from  the  object  of  their  vengeance  by  fixed  bayo 
nets.  Two  arrests  were  made  of  especially  violent 
fellows  ;  and  these  were  quieted  only  by  orders  from 
the  officer  to  the  soldiers,  to  run  their  bayonets  into 
them  if  they  did  not  keep  quiet.  This  affair  had  a 
wholesome  effect  upon  the  New  Orleans  rebels. 

The  same  evening  Gen.  Butler  drove  from  the  St. 
Charles  to  the  river,  a  distance  of  near  a  mile,  with 
out  escort  save  a  single  orderly  ;  a  fact  which  not 
only  illustrated  the  cool  courage  of  the  man,  but  the 
fact  that  true  courage  is  the  best  protection  against 
a  cowardly  mob.  On  the  following  day  a  second 
conference  was  held  between  Gen.  Butler  and  the 
leading  men  of  the  city,  the  mayor  and  his  board  of 
councilmen  being  present.  The  general  explained 
his  views  and  plans  very  fully  in  regard  to  the  situa 
tion,  and  his  ideas  of  the  government  of  the  city ; 
and  then  politely  invited  a  correspondingly  frank 
expression  from  them.  He  assured  them  that  it  was 
.his  earnest  wish  that  the  municipal  authorities  should 
exercise  their  lawful  functions,  leaving  him  simply 
the  duties  of  a  military  commander,  whose  business 
it  was  to  represent  the  National  Government,  and 
sustain  its  authority  against  its  foes. 

Mr.  Soul£  replied,  that  the  tranquillity  of  the  city 
could  not  be  maintained  while  the  troops  remained 
in  it,  and  urged  their  immediate  withdrawal.  "  The 
people  are  not  conquered,  and  cannot  be  expected  to 
act  as  a  conquered  people.  Your  soldiers  cannot 
have  peace  or  safety  in  our  midst." 

Gen.  Butler  kept  his  temper  as  he  replied,  "  I  am 


HIS   CAREER   IN   NEW   ORLEANS.  83 

surprised  to  hear  a  threat  from  Mr.  Soule"  on  an 
occasion  of  this  sort.  I  have  been  accustomed  to 
hear  threats  from  Southern  gentlemen  in  political 
conventions ;  but  I  assure  you  gentlemen  present, 
that  the  time  for  such  tactics  has  passed,  never  to 
return.  New  Orleans  is.  a  conquered  city :  else  how 
did  we  get  here,  and  why  are  we  here  ?  Did  you 
open  your  arms,  and  bid  us  welcome  ?  Would  you 
not  expel  us  if  you  could  ?  No,  gentlemen  :  New 
Orleans  has  been  conquered  by  the  forces  of  the 
United  States,  and  by  the  laws  of  all  nations  is 
subject  to  the  will  of  the  conquerors.  Nevertheless, 
when  I  propose  to  leave  the  municipal  government 
to  the  free  exercise  of  all  its  powers,  I  am  answered 
by  a  threat.  Gladly  will  I  take  every  soldier  out  of 
the  city  the  very  hour  it  is  demonstrated  to  me  that 
the  city  government  can  and  will  protect  me,  and 
other  loyal  men,  from  insult  and  danger.  Your  in 
ability  or  unwillingness  to  do  this  has  been  clearly 
shown  by  the  treatment  of  my  men  this  afternoon, 
and  by  the  fact  that  Gen.  Lovell  was  obliged  to  pro 
claim  martial  law  while  his  army  occupied  your  city, 
to  protect  law-abiding  citizens  from  the  rowdies. 

"I  therefore  proclaim  martial  law,  not  against 
respectable  citizens,  but  against  the  same  class  that 
Gen.  Wilkinson,  Gen.  Jackson,  and  Gen.  Lovell  de 
clared  it.  I  understand  the  situation  better,  perhaps, 
than  you  think.  I  am  aware  of  the  existence  of 
an  organization  here  established  for  the  express  pur 
pose  of  assassinating  my  men  in  detail ;  but  I  warn 
you  that  if  a  shot  is  fired  from  any  house,  it  will 


84  LIFE   OF   BENJAMIN   F.    BUTLER. 

never  again  shelter  a  mortal  head,  and  if  I  can  dis 
cover  the  perpetrator  of  the  deed,  the  place  that 
knows  him  now  shall  know  him  no  more  forever.  I 
have  the  power  to  suppress  the  unruly  element  in 
your  midst ;  and  I  mean  to  use  it  so  effectually  that 
in  a  short  period  I  shall  be  able  to  traverse  your 
streets  alone  free  from  insult  or  peril,  or  else  this 
metropolis  of  the  South  shall  be  a  desert  from  the 
Plains  of  Chalmette  to  the  outskirts  of  Carrollton." 

The  proclamation  appeared  the  next  day,  Col.  J. 
H.  French  being  named  as  provost-marshal,  and 
Major  J.  W.  Bell  as  provost-judge. 

During  that  day  the  foreign  consuls  waited  upon 
the  general,  and  had  a  pleasant  interview.  A  dele 
gation  of  the  city  council  also  called  to  say  that  the 
proposal  from  him,  that  the  city  government  should 
go  on  as  usual,  was  accepted ;  and  requesting  the 
withdrawal  of  the  troops  from  the  City  Hall,  that  the 
authorities  might  not  seem  to  be  acting  under  mili 
tary  dictation.  This  request  was  at  once  granted. 
The  general  also  sent  Gen.  Williams  and  Capt. 
Farragut  up  to  Baton  Rouge,  with  instructions  to 
occupy  and  hold  it.  Camps  were  established  out  of 
the  city  for  the  bulk  of  the  army ;  so  that  in  a  short 
time  but  two  hundred  and  fifty  men  remained  in  it, 
simply  enough  for  a  competent  provost-guard. 

In  a  few  days  all  was  comparatively  quiet ;  and  the 
press,  though  still  rebel,  almost  complimented  Gen. 
Butler  in  commenting  upon  the  change.  "  The  Bee  " 
of  May  the  8th  said,  "The  Federal  soldiers  do  not 
seem  to  interfere  with  private  property,  and  have 


HIS  CAREER  IN  NEW  ORLEANS.         85 

done  nothing,  that  we  are  aware,  to  provoke  difficulty. 
The  usual  nightly  arrests  for  vagrancy  and  assaults, 
wounding  and  killing,  have  unquestionably  been 
diminished.  The  city  is  as  tranquil  and  peaceable 
as  in  the  most  quiet  times."  Thus  it  is  evident  that 
Gen.  Butler's  administration  started  well.  We  shall 
see,  as  we  progress  with  this  history,  that  it  was 
characterized  throughout  by  dignity,  prudence,  and 
wisdom,  as  well  as  firmness  and  patriotism. 


86  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.   BUTLER. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

GEN.  BUTLER    GIVES  EMPLOYMENT  TO  THE    POOR,  THUS 
PREVENTING    BOTH    FAMINE    AND    PESTILENCE. 

WHEN  Gen.  Butler  took  command  of  New 
Orleans,  there  was  not  sufficient  provisions  to 
feed  the  people  one  month  ;  and  the  necessaries  of 
life  cost  such  fabulous  prices  that  only  the  rich  could 
purchase  them.  The  poor  were  therefore  on  the 
borders  of  famine.  Flour  was  selling  for  sixty  dol 
lars  per  barrel,  and  other  articles  corresponded  in 
price.  This  had  resulted  from  two  causes  chiefly : 
the  war  had  destroyed  the  productiveness  of  the 
country  and  th'e  trade  of  the  city,  and  the  rebel  van 
dalism  had  destroyed  the  accumulated  stock  of  goods 
to  prevent  the  Union  army  from  getting  possession 
of  them. 

There  were  at  least  fifty  thousand  poor  people, 
chiefly  women  and  children,  whose  physical  salvation 
depended  upon  the  wisdom  and  philanthropy  of  one 
man,  and  that  man  hated  and  reviled  as  no  man  ever 
had  been  in  that  city.  Gen.  Butler  acted  up  to  the 
standard  of  the  true  Christian,  by  a  practical  adop 
tion  of  the  sentiment  expressed  by  the  Saviour  as  he 


HE    GIVES    EMPLOYMENT   TO    THE    POOR.  87 

hung  upon  the  cross.  He  forgave  them  on  the 
ground  of  their  ignorance,  and  resolved  to  save  them- 
from  death  by  famine. 

Mr.  Parton  says,  "This  object  had  precedence  of 
all  others  during  the  first  few  days,  after  securing 
comparative  quiet;  but  of  course  he  could  not  give 
his  whole  attention  to  it.  He  strove  to  revive  the 
business  of  the  city,  which  was  dead.  Confidence  in 
the  honest  intentions  of  the  Union  authorities  did 
not  exist :  he  endeavored  to  call  it  into  being.  The 
currency  was  deranged :  he  must  rectify  it.  The 
secessionists  were  audaciously  vigilant :  he  had  to 
circumvent  and  repress  them." 

The  yellow-fever  season  was  at  hand :  he  was 
resolved  to  ward  off  the  pestilence.  The  city  gov 
ernment  was  obstructive  and  hostile  :  it  was  his  busi 
ness  to  frustrate  their  endeavors.  The  negro  problem 
loomed  up  vast  and  portentous  :  he  must  act  upon  it 
without  delay.  The  banks  were  in  disorder:  their 
affairs  demanded  his  attention.  The  consulates  were 
so  many  centres  of  hostile  operations :  he  had  to 
penetrate  their  mysteries.  His  army  was  not  large, 
his  field  of  operation  immense :  he  could  not  neglect 
the  chief  business  of  his  mission  to  this  Southern 
field  of  operations.  He  gave  from  his  own  purse  one 
thousand  dollars  toward  the  immediate  relief  of  the 
starving  poor ;  and,  on  the  suggestion  of  the  city 
authorities,  he  gave  permits  to  railroad  and  steamboat 
companies  and  traders  to  bring  provisions  into  the 
city,  the  continuance  of  said  permits  being  depend^ 
ent  upon  their  not  giving  intelligence,  aid,  or  comfort 


88  LIFE   OF    BENJAMIN    F.  BUTLER. 

to  the  rebel  forces.  For  the  faithful  compliance  with 
.this  provision  he  had  the  pledge  of  the  city  authori 
ties,  and  for  its  execution  he  held  them  responsible. 
This  obligation  was  violated  in  the  most  shameful 
manner  in  numerous  instances.  Provisions  were 
shipped  to  Gen.  Lovell's  troops,  and  spies  passed  to 
and  fro  in  the  disguise  of  steamboat  employees, 
traders,  &c. :  still  the  good  overbalanced  the  evil 
of  this  plan. 

The  general  had  invited  the  attention  of  the  mayor 
to  the  filthy  state  of  the  city,  and  he  and  his  council 
agreed  to  have  the  streets  cleaned  ;  but  no  such  action 
was  taken,  and  he  summoned  the  mayor  to  know  why 
this  compact  was  not  kept.  He  said,  "There  are 
plenty  of  idle  men  who  could  be  profitably  employed 
in  that  work." 

The  mayor  said  that  a  force  of  three  hundred  men 
had  been  set  to  work.  But  no  such  force  could 
be  seen  by  the  general  or  his  soldiers.  He  there 
fore  resolved  to  take  the  matter  into  his  own  hands 
at  once ;  and  on  the  Qth  of  May  he  issued  an  order 
to  the  effect  that  the  city  should  employ  the  poor 
laborers  in  the  work  of  cleaning  the  streets,  with  a 
view  both  to  providing  for  the  wants  of  the  destitute, 
and  warding  off  pestilence. 

This  was  sent  to  the  City  Council,  who  accepted 
it  as  a  good  measure ;  and  a  superintendent  on  behalf 
of  the  city  was  appointed,  Col.  T.  B.  Thorpe  being 
named  to  act  for  the  military  authorities.  The  party 
named  by  the  City  Council  refused  to  take  the  oath 
of  allegiance  to  the  United  States  :  hence  Col.  Thorpe 


HE   GIVES   EMPLOYMENT   TO   THE   POOR.  89 

had  sole  charge  of  this  work,  which  he  pushed  with 
energy  and  despatch. 

Mr.  Parton  tells  us  that  "  Col.  Thorpe's  labors 
were  of  permanent  benefit  to  the  city  in  many  ways. 
The  Mississippi  River  is  constantly  adding  new  land 
to  the  city  limits  ;  but  this  land  requires  considerable 
labor  expended  upon  it  before  it  is  completely  res 
cued  from  the  domain  of  the  river.  It  is  estimated 
that  Col.  Thorpe's  skilfully  directed  efforts  added  to 
the  city  an  amount  of  available  land  worth  one  mil 
lion  of  dollars." 

Thus  Gen.  Butler  not  only  gave  relief  to  the  poor 
in  a  legitimate  way,  but  greatly  benefited  and  per 
manently  enriched  the  city  by  his  plans  of  relief. 
His  system  resulted  in  more  benefit  to  the  city  than 
expense,  while  it  cost  the  United  States  not  a  cent. 
Secretary  Chase  wrote  him,  "  You  are  the  cheapest 
general  we  have  employed." 

GENERAL   BUTLER'S    ORIGINAL    PLAN    FOR    RAISING 
MONEY. 

Gen.  Butler's  plan  is  fully  explained  by  the  follow 
ing  order : — 

AUG.  4,  1862. 

It  appears  that  the  need  of  relief  to  the  destitute  poor  of  the 
city  requires  more  extended  measures  and  greater  outlay  than 
have  yet  been  made. 

It  becomes  a  question  in  justice,  Upon  whom  should  this 
burden  fall  ? 

Clearly,  upon  those  who  have  brought  this  great  calamity 
upon  their  fellow-citizens. 

It  should  not  be  borne  by  taxation  of  the  whole  municipality, 
because  the  middling  and  working  men  have  never  been  heard 


gO  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN   F.   BUTLER. 

at  the  ballot-box,  unawed  by  threats  and  unmenaced  by  '  Thugs1 
and  paid  assassins  of  conspirators  against  peace  and  good 
order.  Besides,  more  than  the  vote  that  was  claimed  for  seces 
sion  have  taken  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  United  States. 

The  United-States  Government  does  its  share  when  it  pro 
tects,  defends,  and  preserves  the  people  in  the  enjoyment  of 
law,  order,  and  calm  quiet. 

Those  who  have  brought  upon  the  city  this  stagnation  of 
business,  this  desolation  of  the  hearthstone,  this  starvation  of 
the  poor  and  helpless,  should,  as  far  as  they  may  be  able, 
relieve  these  distresses.  '  .  " 

There  are  two  classes  whom  it  would  seem  peculiarly  fit 
should  at  first  contribute.  First,  those  individuals  and  cor 
porations  who  have  aided  the  Rebellion  with  their  means ;  and, 
second,  those  who  have  endeavored  to  destroy  the  commercial 
prosperity  of  the  city,  upon  which  the  welfare  oi  its  inhabitants 
depend. 

It  is  brought  to  the  knowledge  of  the  commanding  general, 
that  a  subscription  of  twelve  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars 
was  made  by  the  corporate  bodies,  business  firms,  and  persons 
whose  names  are  set  forth  in  Schedule  "A"  annexed  to  this 
order,  and  that  sum  placed  in  the  hands  of  an  illegal  body 
known  as  the  "  Committee  of  Public  Safety,"  for  the  treasona 
ble  purpose  of  defending  the  city  against  the  Government  of 
the  United  States,  under  whose  humane  rule  the  city  of  New 
Orleans  had  enjoyed  such  unexampled  prosperity,  that  her 
warehouses  were  filled  with  fruits  of  all  nations  who  come  to 
share  her  freedom,  to  take  part  in  the  benefits  of  her  commer 
cial  prosperity,  and  thus  she  was  macle  the  representative  mart 
of  the  world. 

The  stupidity  and  wastefulness  with  which  this  immense 
sum  was  spent  was  only  equalled  by  the  folly  which  led  to  its 
being  raised  at  all.  The  subscribers  to  this  fund,  by  this  very 
act,  betray  their  treasonable  designs,  and  their  ability  to  pay  at 
least  a  much  smaller  tax  for  the  relief  of  their  destitute  and 
starving  neighbors. 

Schedule  "  B  "  is  a  list  of  cotton-brokers,  who,  claiming  to 


HE   GIVES   EMPLOYMENT   TO    THE   POOR.  9 1 

control  that  great  interest  in  New  Orleans,  to  which  she  is  so 
much  indebted  for  her  wealth,  published  in  the  newspapers  in 
October,  1861,  a  manifesto  deliberately  advising  the  planters 
not  to  bring  their  produce  to  the  city ;  a  measure  which  brought 
ruin  at  the  same  time  upon  the  producer  and  the  city. 

This  act  sufficiently  testifies  the  malignity  of  these  traitors, 
as  well  to  the  Government  as  to  their  neighbors;  and  it  is 
to  be  regretted  that  their  ability  to  relieve  their  fellow-citizens 
is  not  equal  to  their  facilities  for  injuring  them. 

In  taxing  both  these  classes  to  relieve. the  suffering  poor  of 
New  Orleans,  yea,  even  though  the  needy  be  the  starving  wives 
and  children  of  those  in  arms  at  Richmond  and  elsewhere 
against  the  United  States,  it  will  be  impossible  to  make  a  mis 
take  save  in  having  the  assessment  too  easy  and  the  burden 
too  light. 

It  is  therefore  ordered  :  — 

ist,  That  the  sums  in  schedules  annexed  marked  "A  "  and 
"B,"  set  against  the  names  of  the  several  persons,  business 
firms,  and  corporations  herein  described,  be  and  hereby  are 
assessed  upon  each  respectively. 

2d,  That  said  sums  be  paid  to  Lieut,  pavid  C.  G.  Field, 
financial  clerk,  at  his  office  in  the  Custom  House,  on  or  before 
Monday  the  nth  inst,  or  that  the  property  of  the  delinquent 
be  forthwith  seized,  and  sold  at  public  auction  to  pay  the 
amount,  with  all  necessary  charges  and  expenses,  or  the  party 
imprisoned  till  paid. 

3d,  The  money  raised  by  this  assessment  to  be  a  fund  for 
the  purpose  of  providing  employment  and  food  for  the  deserv 
ing  poor  people  of  New  Orleans. 

[The  first  schedule  embraced  ninety-five  names,  as  in  the 
following.] 


Q2  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.  BUTLER. 


SCHEDULE  A. 

List  of  Contributors  to  the  Million  and  a  Quarter  Loan,  placed  in  the  Hands 
of  the  so-called  Committee  of  Public  Safety,  for  the  defence  of  New  Orleans 
against  the  United  States,  and  of  which  $38,000  about  had  been  disbursed. 

Sums  subscribed  to  Sums  assessed  to 

aid  treason  against  relieve  the  poor  by 

the  United  States.  the  United  States. 

Abat,  Generes,  &  Co $210,000  $52,500 

Jonathan  Montgomery 40,000  10,000 

Thomas  Sloo,  President  Sun  Insurance  Co.  .        .         50,000  12,500 

C.  C.  Gaines 2,000  500 

C.  C.  Gaines  &  Co 3,000  750 

[Total  amount  yielded  under  this  item  of  assessment  was 
$312,716.25.] 

SCHEDULE   B. 

List  of  Cotton- Brokers  of  New  Orleans  who  published  in  "  The  Crescent"  in 
October  last,  a  Card  advising  Planters  not  to  send  Produce  to  New  Orleans, 
in  order  to  induce  Foreign  Intervention  in  behalf  of  the  Rebellion. 

Sums  assessed  to  relieve  the  starv 
ing  poor  by  the  United  States. 

Hewitt,  Norton,  &  Co $500 

West  &  Villerie 250 

S.  E.  Belknap 100 

Brander,  Chambliss,  &  Co.    .........        500 

Lewis  &  Oglesby 100 

[The  sum  realized  by  this  assessment  was  $29,200. 
The  effect  of  this  order,  No.  55,  put  at  the  disposal  of  Gen. 
Butler,  for  the  purposes  named,  the  sum  of  $341,916.25.] 

These  orders  were  hailed  with  joy  by  the  poor, 
and  muttered  curses  from  the  rich.  The  first  saw 
in  them  promise  of  work  and  wages,  hence  relief 
from  famine ;  the  latter,  the  stern  necessity  of  yield 
ing  up  some  of  their  hoarded  wealth,  wrung  from 
slave-labor,  for  the  public  good.  "The  True  Delta" 
said  to  these  men,  "The  poor  must  be  employed  and 


HE    GIVES    EMPLOYMENT    TO    THE    POOR.  93 

fed;  you  Cannot  be  permitted  to  lie  on  cushioned 
divans,  dining  on  turtle,  and  sipping  choice  wines, 
while  hungry  men  and  starving  women  and  children 
walk  the  ever-busy  streets  in  idleness." 

The  consuls  representing  the  various  European 
governments  were  all  in  active  sympathy  with  seces 
sion,  and  these  threw  every  possible  obstruction  in 
Gen.  Butler's  way.  They  lent  willing  ears  to  rebel 
complaints,  and  forwarded  protests  to  the  Secretary 
of  State  at  Washington.  But  the  general  vindicated 
himself  most  successfully  by  a  letter  to  the  Secre 
tary  of  War,  closing  as  follows  :  — 

"  When  I  took  possession  of  New  Orleans  I  found  the  city 
nearly  on  the  verge  of  starvation ;  the  poor  being  utterly  with 
out  means  of  procuring  what  food  there  was  to  be  had.  I 
endeavored  to  aid  the  city  government  in  the  work  of  feeding 
the  poor ;  but  I  soon  found  that  the  very  distribution  of  food 
was  a  means  faithlessly  used  to  encourage  the  Rebellion.  I 
was  obliged,  therefore,  to  take  the  whole  matter  into  my  own 
hands.  It  had  become  a  subject  of  alarming  importance  and 
gravity.  It  became  necessary  to  provide,  from  some  source, 
the  funds  to  procure  the  food.  They  could  not  be  raised  by 
city  taxation  in  the  ordinary  form.  These  taxes  were  in  arrears 
to  more  than  one  million,  of  dollars.  Besides,  it  would  be  unjust 
to  tax  the  loyal  citizens  and  honestly  neutral  foreigners  to  pro 
vide  for  a  state  of  things  brought  about  by  the  rebels  and  dis 
loyal  foreigners,  who  had  conspired  together  to  overthrow  the 
authority  of  the  United  States,  and  establish  the  very  result 
which  was  to  be  met. 

"  Further,  in  order  to  have  a  contribution  effective,  it  must  be 
upon  tfrbse  who  have  wealth  to  meet  it.  There  seems  to  be  no 
such  fit  subjects  for  such  taxation  as  the  cotton-brokers  who 
had  brought  the  distress  upon  the  city  by  paralyzing  commerce, 
and  the  subscribers  to  the  rebel  loan. 


94  LIFF    OF    BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

"  With  these  convictions  I  issued  General  Order  No.  55, 
which  will  explain  itself,  and  have  raised  nearly  the  amount  of 
the  tax  therein  set  forth.  But  for  what  purpose  ?  Not  a  dollar 
has  gone  in  any  way  to  the  use  of  the  United  States.  I  am 
now  employing  one  thousand  poor  laborers,  as  matter  of  char 
ity,  upon  the  streets  and  wharves  of  the  city,  from  this  fund.  I 
am  distributing  food  to  preserve  from  starvation  nine  thousand 
seven  hundred  and  seven  families,  containing  thirty-two  thou 
sand  four  hundred  souls,  daily;  and  this  at  an  expense  of 
seventy  thousand  dollars  per  month.  I  am  sustaining,  at  an 
expense  of  two  thousand  dollars  per  month,  five  asylums  for 
widows  and  orphans.  I  am  aiding  the  charity  hospital  to  the 
extent  of  five  thousand  dollars  per  month. 

"  Before  their  Excellencies,  the  French  and  Prussian  minis 
ters,  complain  of  my  exactions  upon  foreigners  at  New  Orleans, 
I  desire  that  they  should  look  at  the  documents,  and  consider 
for  a  moment  the  facts  and  figures  set  forth  in  this  report. 
They  will  find  that  out  of  ten  thousand  four  hundred  and  ninety 
families  who  have  been  fed  from  the  fund,  with  the  raising  of 
which  they  find  fault,  less  than  one-tenth  are  Americans ;  nine 
thousand  four  hundred  and  eighty  are  foreigners.  Of  the  thirty- 
two  thousand  souls,  but  three  thousand  are  natives.  Besides 
the  charity  at  the  asylums  and  hospitals,  distributed  in  about 
the  same  proportion  to  foreign  and  native  born  ;  so  that,  of  an 
expenditure  of  near  eighty  thousand  dollars  per  month  to  em 
ploy  and  feed  the  starving  poor  of  New  Orleans,  seventy-two 
thousand  dollars  goes  to  foreigners,  whose  compatriots  loudly 
complain,  and  offensively  thrust  forward  their  neutrality,  when 
ever  they  are  called  upon  to  aid  their  suffering  countrymen. 

"  I  should  need  no  extraordinary  taxation  to  feed  the  poor  of 
New  Orleans,  if  the  bellies  of  the  foreigners  were  as  actively 
with  the  rebels  as  are  the  heads  of  those  who  claim  exemption 
thus  far  from  this  taxation,  made  and  used  for  the  purposes 
above  set  forth,  upon  the  ground  of  their  neutrality ;  among 
whom  I  find  Rochereau  &  Co.,  the  senior  partner  of  which  firm 
took  an  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  Constitution  of  the  Confed 
erate  States.  I  find  also  the  house  of  Riechard  £  Co.,  the  senior 


HE    GIVES    EMPLOYMENT   TO    THE    POOR.  95 

partner  of  which,  Gen.  Riechard,  is  in  the  rebel  army.  I  find  the 
junior  partner,  Mr.  Kruttschmidt,  the  brother-in-law  of  Benja 
min,  the  rebel  secretary  of  war,  using  all  the  funds  in  his  hands 
to  purchase  arms,  and  collecting  securities  of  his  correspondents 
before  they  are  due  to  get  funds  fS  loan  to  the  rebel  authori 
ties,  and  now  acting  Prussian  consul  here,  doing  quite  as  effec 
tive  service  to  the  rebels  as  his  partner  in  the  field.  I  find 
M.  Paesher  &  Co.,  bankers,  whose  clerks  and  employees 
formed  a  part  of  the  French  Legion,  organized  to  fight  the 
United  States,,  and  who  contributed  largely  to  arm  and  equip- 
that  corps.  These  are  fair  specimens  of  the  neutrality  of  the 
foreigners,  for  whom  the  Government  is  called  upon  to  interfere 
to  prevent  their  paying  any  thing  toward  the  Relief  Fund  for 
their  starving  countrymen. 

"  If  the  representatives  of  the  foreign  governments  will  feed 
their  own  starving  people,  —  over  whom  the  only  protection  they 
extend,  so  far  as  I  can  see,  is  to  tax  them  all,  poor  and  rich,  a 
dollar  and  a  half  each  for  certificates  of  nationality,  —  I  will 
release  the  foreigners  from  all  the  exactions,  fines,  and  imposts 
whatever. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be  your  obedient  servant, 

"BENJAMIN  F.  BUTLER, 

"  Major-General  commanding" 

A  second  assessment  for  the  same  amount  as  the 
first  was  made  on  the  Qth  of  December,  the  first 
having  been  exhausted.  Further  detail  or  comment 
were  unnecessary.  The  reader  cannot  fail  to  see  the 
jitstice,  as  well  as  the  necessity,  of  the  course  pur 
sued  in  this  matter  by  Gen.  Butler. 


LIFE    OF   BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 


CHAPTER  X. 

GEN.    BUTLER   AND   THE   SECESSIONIST   WOMEN    OF 
NEW  "ORLEANS. 

T)ERHAPS  no  act  of  Gen.  Butler's  life  has  sub- 
-L  jected  him  to  such  severe  and  unjust  criticism 
as  the  following  order  :  — 

HEADQUARTERS  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  GULF, 

NEW  ORLEANS,  May  15,  1862. 
GENERAL  ORDER  No.  28: 

As  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  United  States  have  been 
subject  to  repeated  insults  from  the  women  (calling  themselves 
ladies)  of  New  Orleans,  in  return  for  the  most  scrupulous  non 
interference  and  courtesy  on  our  part,  it  is  ordered,  that  here 
after,  when  any  female  shall,  by  word,  gesture,  or  movement, 
insult  or  show  contempt  for  any  officer  or  soldier  of  the  United 
States,  she  shall  be  regarded  and  held  liable  to  be  treated  as  a 
woman  of  the  town  plying  her  avocation. 

By  command  of 

MAJOR-GENERAL  BUTLER. 
GEORGE  C.  STRONG,  A.  A.  G.,  Chief  of  Staff. 

The  occasion,  necessity,  and  full  justification  of 
this  order,  was  found  in  the  fact  that  the  women  of 
New  Orleans,  notably  the  more  aristocratic,  adopted 
every  device  possible  to  feminine  ingenuity  and  spite, 
to  flaunt  their  rebel  sentiments  in  the  faces  of  the 
officers  and  soldiers-  of  the  United  States,  and  to  in- 


GEN.   BUTLER   AND   SECESSIONIST   WOMEN.          Q/ 

suit  them  openly  on  the  street  and  in  the  public  con 
veyances.  They  wore  rebel  flags  upon  their  bonnets. 
They  would  pull  their  skirts  away  when  passing  sol 
diers,  as  though  to  avoid  contamination  by  contact 
with  them.  They  would  sneer  at  them,  and  use  in 
sulting  epithets,  and,  in  some  instances,  spit  in  their 
faces  on  the  street.  These  outrages  were  not  occa 
sional,  but  constant  and  almost  universal ;  the  officers 
and  soldiers,  on  their  part,  treating  all  the  people  well, 
and  the  women  with  deferential  politeness,  and  taking 
no  apparent  notice  of,  and  in  no  case  resenting,  the 
insults  offered.  They  chafed  under  this  treatment, 
however,  and  complained  daily  to  the  general,  of 
insults  which  they  as  gentlemen  could  not  resent, 
nor  as  sensitive  men  endure  with  patience.  The 
general  resolved  to  protect  his  men  and  these  women 
at  the  same  time,  and  the  above  order  was  the  plan 
adopted  to  do  it ;  and  the  wisdom  of  it  is  sustained 
by  its  entire  success. 

It  has  been  charged,  thatjn  this  order  Gen.  Butler 
insulted  the  women  of  New  Orleans,  by  classing  the 
whole  of  them  as  women  of  the  town ;  but  no  just 
critic  can  draw  any  such  conclusion  from  the  lan 
guage  of  the  document  in  question.  Only  those  who 
should  choose  to  act  like  women  of  the  town  could  be 
treated  as  such.  How  do  women  of  the  town  act  ? 
Why,  they  accost  men  on  the  street  with  whom  they 
have  no  acquaintance,  or  they  stare  at  them,  or  make 
signs  designed  to  attract  their  attention,  &c. ;  arid  in 
all  cities  of  civilized  countries  women  who  do  such 
things  are  liable  to  be  arrested,  committed  to  prison, 
and  fined. 


98  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.   BUTLER. 

No  such  punishment  was  meted  out  to  the  women 
of  New  Orleans  under  this  order,  for  the  excellent 
reason  that  from  the  day  of  its  publication  they  all 
comported  themselves  as  became  virtuous  and  well- 
bred  ladies.  It  was  feared  by  some,  even  of  the  gen 
eral's  staff,  that  the  order  might  be  misconstrued  by 
some  of  the  soldiers,  who  might  make  it  the  pretext 
for  insulting  women  whom  they  might  meet ;  but  no 
instance  of  such  misunderstanding  or  abuse  of  the 
order  occurred.  On  the  contrary,  the  order  produced 
good  fruits  only;  and,  as  we  are  to  judge  by  fruits,  we 
cannot  but  commend  most  fully  Gen.  Butler's  cele 
brated  "  Woman  Order." 

It  was  not  popular  in  rebel  circles,  either  South, 
North,  or  in  Europe.  The  mayor  of  New  Orleans 
was  highly  indignant.  He  wrote  on  the  i6th  of  May 
a  most  inflammatory  and  offensive  letter  to  Gen. 
Butler,  saying,  "As  chief  magistrate  of  this  city  I 
cannot  allow  such  an  order  published  without  my 
protest.  The  passions  of  our  people  already  aroused, 
this  must  exasperate  them  beyond  control ;  and  I  will 
not  undertake  to  be  responsible  for  the  peace  of  the 
city  while  such  an  edict  remains  in  force." 

Gen.  Butler  took  him  at  his  word.  He  having 
said  he  would  not  be  responsible  for  the  order  of  the 
city,  the  following  reply  was  returned  :  — 

"John  T.  Monroe,  late  mayor  of  New  Orleans,  is  hereby 
relieved  from  all  responsibility  for  the  peace  of  the  city,  and 
suspended  from  any  official  functions,  and  committed  to  Fort 
Jackson  until  further  orders.  B.  F.  BUTLER, 

"  Major-General  commanding" 


GEN.  BUTLER   AND    SECESSIONIST   WOMEN.          99 

The  mayor's  bravado  oozed  out  at  once ;  and  he 
begged  not  to  be  sent  to  prison,  declaring  that  he  had 
no  intention  of  insulting  the  general.  Gen.  Butler 
explained  his  order  to  him,  and  he  professed  himself 
entirely  satisfied  with  it.  He  at.once  asked  to  with 
draw  his  letter ;  and  the  general  wrote  at  the  foot  of 
it,  "  This  communication  having  been  sent  under  a 
mistake  of  fact,  and  being  improper  in  language,  I 
desire  to  apologize  for  and  withdraw  it."  This  the 
mayor  signed,  and  was  relieved  from  arrest. 

The  very  next  day,  having  been  bulldozed  by  his 
rebel  friends,  he  wrote  to  recall  his  recantation. 

In  reply  Gen.  Butler  wrote  :  — 

"  There  can  be,  there  has  been,  no  room  for  misunderstand 
ing  of  General  Order  No.  28.  No  lady  will  take  any  notice  of 
a  strange  gentleman  in  such  form  as  to  attract  attention.  Com 
mon  women  do. 

"Therefore,  whatever  woman,  lady,  or  mistress,  gentle  or 
simple,  who  by  gesture,  look,  or  word  insults,  shows  contempt 
for,  thus  attracting  to  herself  the  notice  of,  my  officers  or  sol 
diers,  will  be  deemed  to  act  as  becomes  her  vocation  of  common 
woman,  and  will  be  liable  to  be  treated  accordingly. 

"  I  shall  not,  as  I  have  not  abated,  a  single  word  of  that 
order:  it  was  well  considered.  If  obeyed,  it  will  protect  the 
true  and  modest  woman  from  all  possible  insult :  the  others  will 
take  care  of  themselves. 

"  You  can  publish  your  letter  if  you  publish  this  note  and 
your  apology.  B.  F.  BUTLER, 

" Major-General  commanding" 

Again  the  mayor  wilted ;  and  again,  under  the 
influence  of  rebel  counsellors,  he  stiffened  up.  Fi 
nally,  on  the  invitation  of  Gen.  Butler,  the  mayor 


IOO  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

and  the  chief  officers  of  the  city  had  a  conference 
with  the  general  at  his  office.  The  general  delivered 
a  lecture  to  them,  recounting  the  broken  promises 
and  disloyal  conduct  of  the  mayor  and  council,  as 
well  as  the  leading  citizens. 

Then  addressing  them  individually  he  asked,  "  Do 
you  believe  the  mayor's  letter  insulting  ?  Do  you  aid 
and  abet  the  mayor  ?  Do  you  sustain  the  mayor  in 
reiterating  the  letter  ? " 

The  chief  of  police,  Judge  Kennedy,  and  Mr.  Dun 
can  answered  in  the  affirmative.  The  general  then 
ordered  these  three  gentlemen  and  the  mayor  com 
mitted  to  Fort  Jackson. 

Gen.  Butler  immediately  took  control  of  the  city 
government  by  proclamation,  organizing  a  police- 
force,  and  restoring  order. 


THE    EXECUTION    OF    W.  B.   MUMFORD.  IOI 


CHAPTER   XI. 

THE    EXECUTION    BY    HANGING    OF    W.    B.    MUMFORD. 

IN  the  early  part  of  the  war  Gen.  Dix  made  himself 
famous  by  his  celebrated  order,  "  If  any  man  pulls 
down  the  American  flag,  shoot  him  on  the  spot." 
The  reader  remember^  the  occurrence,  already  re 
lated,  of  pulling  down  the  flag  which  Capt.  Farragut 
had  ordered  raised  over  the  United-States  Mint.  The 
man  who  did  this  was  William  B.  Mumford,  a  pro 
fessional  gambler  of  New  Orleans.  His  act  was  of 
treasonable  character;  but  it  is  not  probable  he 
would  have  been  arrested  and  tried  fo£  it  if  he  had 
afterwards  behaved  himself  in  a  seemly  manner. 
But  he  was  one  of  the  most  troublesome  mob-leaders 
in  the  city.  He  was  almost  daily  seen  on  the  street, 
venting  rebel  sentiments,  and  boasting  of  his  exploit 
in  tearing  down  and  insulting  the  old  flag.  So  bold 
did  he  become,  that  he  would  repeat  the  story  in 
front  of  Gen.  Butler's  headquarters,  and  dare  the 
Lincoln  hirelings  to  arrest  him.  While  in  the  act  of 
repeating  this  challenge  one  day,  he  was  arrested, 
and  taken  to  prison.  His  case  having  been  thus 
brought  to  the  special  attention  of  the  provost-mar- 


IO2  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.   BUTLER. 

shal  and  provost-judge,  he  was  put  on  trial ;  and, 
being  found  guilty,  he  was  sentenced  to  be  hung. 

During  the  trial  he  treated  the  whole  matter  with 
contempt ;  and  after  he  was  condemned  he  and  his 
friends  boldly  proclaimed  that  Gen.  Butler  would  not 
dare  to  sign  the  order  for  his  execution,  as  it  would 
cost  him  his  life  to  do  so. 

They  were  mistaken  in  their  man.  Gen.  Butler 
makes  no  ostentatious  display  of  his  courage,  but  he 
is  one  of  the  very  last  to  be  frightened  from  the  dis 
charge  of  duty  by  threats  of  personal  violence. 

The  general,  believing  his  sentence  just,  and  that 
his  execution  would  have  a  healthy  influence  upon  his 
traitor  associates  and  the  whole  city,  promptly  signed 
his  death-warrant,  and  fixed  a  day  for  its  execution, 
naming  Saturday,  June  the  7th. 

About  this  time  six  men  who  had  broken  their 
parole  by  joining  a  secret  rebel  organization,  known 
as  the  Monroe  Guard,  in  honor  of  the  mayor,  were 
arrested  while  in  the  act  of  stealing  out  of  the  city 
to  join  Gen.  Lovell's  command.  These  were  tried, 
and  condemned  to  be  shot.  This  sentence  the  gene 
ral  also  indorsed.  Hence  there  were  seven  men 
under  sentence  of  death  in  New  Orleans  at  the  same 
time. 

Although  he  had  not  acted  as  judge,  hence  to  sen 
tence  them  was  not  his  act,  yet  they  could  not  be  put 
to  death  without  his  order ;  and,  even  after  this  had 
been  given,  the  power  to  pardon  still  remained  with 
him. 

Gen.  Butler  is  a  man  of  firmness  and  decision ; 


THE    EXECUTION    OF    W.   B.    MUMFORD.  IO3 

but  he  is  also  a  man  of  fine  sensibilities  and  tender 
sympathies,  his  maligners  to  the  contrary  notwith 
standing.  These  seven  human  lives  weighed  down 
his  heart  to  so  great  an  extent  that  he  could  neither 
eat  nor  sleep  with  any  degree  of  comfort.  To  add 
to  his  embarrassment,  Mumford's  wife,  his  own  wife, 
the  venerable  and  reverend  Dr.  Mercer,  and  others, 
besought  him,  with  prayers  and  tears,  to  pardon  this 
wretched  man.  But  he  remained  firm.  Not  but 
that  he  earnestly  desired  to  grant  the  pardon ;  but 
the  public  good,  aye,  the  safety  of  the  city,  demanded 
that  an  example  be  made  of  this  man.  He  believed, 
and  still  believes,  that  if  Mumford  should  be  par 
doned  it  would  be  construed  as  an  act  of  cowardice 
on  his  part,  and  the  mob-element  Mumford  repre 
sented  would  have  become  uncontrollable  save  by 
grape  and  canister.  It  was  simply  a  question  whether 
one  bad  man  should  meet  the  fate  his  crimes  de 
served,  or  hundreds,  perhaps  thousands,  should  be 
slain  in  the  streets,  the  good  and  the  bad  together. 

The  other  six  men  were  worthy  of  death,  accord 
ing  to  the  laws  of  war ;  but  possibly  one  victim  would 
suffice.  Hence,  when  a  statement  came  to  the  gen 
eral,  that  one  of  the  poor  fellows  had  said  that  he  did 
not  understand  about  this  paroling,  that  it  was  a  mat 
ter  for  officers  and  gentlemen, — "We  are  not  officers 
nor  gentlemen,"  —  he  promptly  commuted  their  sen 
tence  to  imprisonment"  on  Ship  Island  during  the 
pleasure  of  the  President.  He  was  doubtless  influ 
enced  toward  this  action  by  the  earnest  petition  of 
Hon.  T.  J.  Durant,  then  a  prominent  citizen  of  New 


IO4  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

Orleans,  a  pronounced  Union-man,  and  now  a  distin 
guished  member  of  the  bar  at  Washington  City,  and 
others  of  influence ;  but  the  matter  that  touched  his 
heart  in  its  most  tender  place  was  the  words  of  the 
poor  fellow  who  unconsciously  drew  such  a  sharp 
distinction  between  the  intelligent  traitors  and  their 
deluded  victims,  the  common  rebel  soldiers. 

Mumford  was  hung  on  the  /th  of  June,  in  the 
presence  of  an  immense  crowd;  and  the  city  felt 
safer  from  that  hour. 

Gen.  Butler  had  received  numerous  letters  threat 
ening  him  with  assassination  unless  he  pardoned 
Mumford ;  but  no  attempt  of  the  sort  occurred. 
On  the  contrary,  his  life  was  much  safer  after  than 
before  the  execution.  * 


IN    THE    ROLE    OF    A    DIPLOMAT.  IO5 


*  CHAPTER   XII. 

GEN.  BUTLER  IN  THE  ROLE  OF  A  DIPLOMAT. HE 

PROVES  MORE  THAN  A  MATCH  FOR  THE  FOREIGN 
CONSULS. 

BEING  a  great  commercial  city,  New  Orleans  was 
honored  with  the  permanent  presence  of  consul- 
generals  from  the  leading  nations  of  the  world ;  and 
during  the  war  these,  without  exception,  sympathized 
with  the  rebel  cause,  and  most  if  not  all  of  them  had 
taken  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  Southern  Con 
federacy  in  1 86 1.  This  act  of  theirs  was  without 
excuse ;  they  being  foreigners,  and  accredited  repre 
sentatives  of  their  respective  governments  to  the 
Government  of  the  United  States.  Being  in  sympa 
thy  with  the  rebels,  they  opposed  every  measure  of 
Gen.  Butler ;  and,  being  foreign  officials,  they  claimed 
exemption  from  the  rules  and  laws  governing  citi 
zens  :  hence  they  were  a  very  troublesome  set  of  fel 
lows. 

There  was  a  large  foreign  population  in  the  city ; 
and  these  consuls  assumed  the  duty  of,,  protecting 
these  also  from  the  action  of  such  laws  as  Gen. 
Butler  ordained  for  the  government  of  the  city. 


IO6  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

Had  the  commanding  general  been  free  to  act  with 
out  fear  of  interference  from  the  State  Department, 
he  could  have  managed  these  obstreperous  and  offi 
cious  officials  without  much  difficulty ;  but  they  were 
constantly  appealing  to  their  ministers  at  Washing 
ton,  who  in  turn  laid  their  grievances  before  Secre 
tary  Seward,  who,  it  is  well  known*  was  nothing  if 
not  a  diplomat,  —  a  suave  and  genial,  not  to  say 
timid,  diplomat,  with  not  one  element  of  the  soldier 
in  his  make-up. 

Gen.  Butler  is  both  a  diplomat  and  a  general,  a 
statesman  and  a  soldier.  He  understood  the  rights 
and  duties  of  these  foreign  consuls,  and  respected 
them  ;  and  he  also  understood  the  rights  of  his  own 
Government,  and  was  resolved  to  maintain  them 
against  domestic  foes  and  foreign  enemies. 

An  organization  known  as  the  British  Guard,  com 
posed  of  wealthy  Englishmen,  sent  their  arms  and 
equipments  to  Gen.  Beauregard ;  on  learning  which 
fact,  Gen.  Butler  ordered  them  to  leave  the  city  within 
twenty-four  hours,  on  pain  of  imprisonment  in  Fort 
Jackson  as  dangerous  foes. 

The  British  consul,  Mr.  Coppell,  protested. 

The  general  replied,  that,  as  they  had  thought  it 
important  that  Gen.  Beauregard  should  have  sixty 
more  uniforms  and  guns,  he  preferred  that  he  should 
have  these  faithless  and  dangerous  men,  to  their  re 
maining  in  the  city  as  a  disturbing  element.  He 
therefore  stQod  by  his  order ;  and  with  the  exception 
of  the  captain  and  one  man,  who  were  sent  to  prison, 
the  legion  fled  the  city. 


IN    THE    ROLE    OF    A    DIPLOMAT. 

A  Frenchman  by  the  nam^of  Heidsick,  disguised 
as  a  bar-tender,  carried  despatches  between  the  rebels 
in  the  city  and  the  rebel  commander  at  Mobile,  on 
the  steamer  "Dick  Keys,"  which  Gen.  Butler  had 
permitted  to  bring  provisions  to  the  city.  For  this 
he  was  arrested,  and  sent  to  prison.  The  French 
consul  protested ;  and,  finding  Gen.  Butler  firm,  he 
laid  the  matter  before  Secretary  Seward,  through  the 
French  minister,  who  had  him  released,  instead  of 
letting  him  be  tried  as  a  spy,  and  hung,  as  he  richly 
deserved. 

The  Citizens'  Bank  had  transferred  eight  hundred 
thousand  dollars  in  silver  to  the  office  of  the  Dutch 
consul  on  the  surrender  of  the  city ;  and,  on  learning 
of  this  fact,  Gen.  Butler  seized  it  with  the  purpose  of 
holding  it,  and  thus  preventing  it  from  being  con 
veyed  to  the  rebel  authorities. 

Another  sum  of  over  seven  hundred  thousand 
dollars  was  found  in  possession  of  a  liquor-dealer,  a 
Frenchman  by  the  name  of  Couterrie,  and  also 
seized  and  held  for  the  same  reason.  The  evident 
object  in  both  these  cases  was  to  put  this  coin,  which 
belonged  to  rebel  corporations,  into  the  custody  of 
foreign  consuls  for  protection  until  it  could  safely  be 
shipped  to  the  Confederate  authorities.  It  was  there 
fore  properly  confiscate,  but  Gen.  Butler  only  put  it 
in  a  safe  place  subject  to  the  orders  of  his  Govern 
ment.  The  Dutch  and  French  consuls  protested, 
and  Reverdy  Johnson  was  sent  to  New  Orleans  to 
investigate  the  matter.  The  result  was  that  Mr. 
Johnson  turned  a  willing  ear  to  the  rebel  bankers 


IO8  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

and  other  interested  parties,  and  a  deaf  ear  to  Gen. 
Butler;  and  this  immense  sum  of  fifteen  hundred 
thousand  dollars  was  turned  over  to  the  enemies  of 
the  Government,  and  ultimately  found  its  way  into 
the  Confederate  treasury,  and  was  used  to  pay  for 
foreign  arms  and  equipments  with  which  to  fight  the 
Government  of  the  United  States. 

Mr.  Johnson  decided  various  other  cases,  brought 
before  him  by  rebel  merchants  and  others,  and  all  in 
their  favor ;  and  all  these  decisions  were  made 
against  the  earnest  protest  of  Gen.  Butler,  sustained 
by  well-established  facts  and  legal  arguments,  over 
whelmingly  convincing  to  a  mind  free  from  preju 
dice. 

Among  the  remarkable  facts  connected  with  Gen. 
Butler's  career  at  New  Orleans,  none  testify  to  his 
greatness,  his  wisdom  in  planning,  and  his  energy  in 
execution,  more  prominently  than  the  fact  that  not  a 
case  of  yellow-fever  occurred  in  the  city  during  the 
season  of  1862.  This  fearful  disease  raged  in  Nassau, 
Havana,  and  other  neighboring  ports ;  but  although 
New  Orleans  had  formerly  been  one  of  its  favorite 
haunts,  and  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  city 
had  twenty  thousand  unacclimated  people  in  it,  it 
did  not  lose  a  life  from  yellow-fever  during  the  time 
Gen.  Butler  was  in  command.  This  wonderful  ex 
emption  from  the  fell  pestilence  was  clue  to  his 
successful  efforts  to  have  the  city  cleaned,  and  his 
excellent  quarantine,  which  prevented  both  the  spon 
taneous  generation  and  the  importation  of  the  dis 
ease-germs. 


IN    THE    R6LE    OF    A    DIPLOMAT. 

The  foes  of  the  general  and  of  the  Government 
predicted  that  the  yellow-fever  would  relieve  them  of 
his  presence,  and  of  the  presence  of  a  large  portion 
of  the  Northern  troops,  before  the  summer  should 
close :  hence  they  were  indignant  at  his  determined 
purpose  and  successful  efforts  to  ward  it  off.  The 
foreign  consuls  complained  of  his  strict  quarantine 
system,  and  laid  their  complaints  before  the  Secretary 
of  State.  Gen.  Butler  replied  in  his  characteristically 
able  and  vigorous  manner,  defending  himself  most 
perfectly  by  facts  that  were  incontrovertible.  He 
closed  by  saying,  — 

"  Allow  me  to  repeat,  that  with  the  blessing  of  God,  to  whom 
our  most  devout  thanks  are  duly  due  for  his  goodness,  the  fell 
scourge,  the  yellow-fever,  has  been  kept  from  my  command 
and  the  city  of  New  Orleans,  till  now,  when  all  danger  is  past, 
by  the  firm  administration  of  sanitary  and  quarantine  regula 
tions,  in  spite  of  complaints  and  difficulties;  and,  if  my  acts 
need  it,  I  point  to  the  results  as  an  unanswerable  vindication." 


IIO  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.   BUTLER. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

GEN.  BUTLER  MAKES  AN  EFFORT  TO  RESTORE  CONFI 
DENCE  AND  PROSPERITY  THROUGHOUT  THE  STATE. 

GEN.  BUTLER  is  a  strict  constructionist.  He 
believes  with  all  his  heart  in  the  strictest  obedi 
ence  to  law.  In  times  of  peace,  the  common  and 
civil  law  are  his  sufficient  guides  :  in  a  state  of  war, 
the  rules  of  war  and  the  orders  of  his  superiors 
govern  his  actions.  He  found  himself,  however,  now 
in  an  anomalous  position  ;  and  he  felt  at  liberty  to  act 
upon  his  own  judgment,  and  the  dictates  of  common 
sense,  humanity,  and  patriotism.  He  was  engaged  in 
putting  down  an  insurrection,  not  fighting  a  foreign 
foe.  He  believed  that  so  soon  as  the  leaders  of  the 
Rebellion  should  be  vanquished  or  captured,  the  peo 
ple  would  see  the  folly  and  sin  of  secession,  and  re 
turn  to  their  loyalty  to  the  Government  which  had  so 
justly  and  benignly  protected  their  rights,  and  fostered 
their  interests.  Holding  these  views,  and  having  con 
quered  New  Orleans  and  a  good  portion  of  Louisi 
ana,  he  not  only  resolved  upon  such  measures  as  he 
deemed  necessary  to  the  maintenance  of  the  authority 
of  the  United  States  over  any  who  might  be  still 


MAKES  AN  EFFORT  TO  RESTORE  CONFIDENCE.    1 1 1 

rebelliously  disposed,  but  to  restore  as  far  as  possi 
ble  the  conditions  of  peace  and  the  elements  of  pros 
perity. 

On  the  4th  of  May,  1862,  he  issued  the  following 
address  to  the  people :  — 

"  The  commanding  general  of  the  department  having  been 
informed  that  rebellious,  lying,  and  desperate  men  have  repre 
sented,  and  are  now  representing,  to  the  honest  planters  and 
good  people  of  the  State  of  Louisiana,  that  the  United-States 
Government,  by  its  forces,  have  come  here  to  confiscate  and 
destroy  their  crop  of  cotton  and  sugar,  it  is  hereby  ordered  to 
be  made  known  by  publication  in  all  the  newspapers  of  this 
city,  that  all  cargoes  of  cotton  and  sugar  shall  have  safe  con 
duct  of  the  forces  of  the  United  States ;  and  the  boats  bringing 
them  from  beyond  the  lines  of  the  United-States  forces  may  be 
allowed  to  return  in  safety,  after  a  reasonable  delay,  if  their 
owners  so  desire,  provided  they  bring  no  passengers  except  the 
owners  and  managers  of  said  boats  and  of  the  property  so  con 
veyed,  and  no  other  merchandise  except  provisions,  of  which 
such  boats  are  requested  to  bring  a  full  supply,  for  the  benefit 
of  the  poor  of  this  city." 

He  not  only  authorized  all  merchants  and  other 
tradesmen  of  the  city  to  re-open  their  places  of  busi 
ness,  and  continue  to  carry  on  their  regular  trade ; 
but  those  who  refused  were  compelled  to  do  so,  on 
penalty  of  fine.  The  currency  of  the  city  was  in  a 
bad  condition ;  the  banks  having  suspended  specie- 
payments  six  months  or  more  before,  and  adopted 
the  Confederate  currency  as  the  only  circulating 
medium  except  shinplasters  issued  by  tradesmen,  car- 
tickets,  &c. 

The  capture  of   the  city  sent  Confederate  notes 


112  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.   BUTLER. 

down  seventy  per  cent ;  but,  as  they  constituted  the 
bulk  of  the  currency,  they  continued  to  circulate  by 
permission  of  Gen.  Butler,  and  the  consent  of  the 
people,  for  some  weeks.  It  was  his  fixed  purpose, 
however,  to  reconstruct  the  financial  system  as  soon 
as  it  could  be  done  without  violence  or  injustice. 
The  banks  had  suspended  specie -payment,  and  also 
stopped  emitting  their  own  bills,  in  September,  1861, 
and  had  sent  a  large  part  of  their  gold  and  silver 
coin  to  the  secretary  of  the  rebel  treasury,  who  fur 
nished  Confederate  currency  instead.  Gen.  Butler, 
on  learning  these  facts,  resolved  that  these  banks 
should  restore  to  the  people  the  same  currency,  gold, 
silver,  and  bank-notes,  formerly  in  use ;  and  as  the 
worthless  Confederate  notes  had  been  forced  upon 
the  people,  in  place  of  their  former  currency,  by  the 
banks,  he  thought  it  but  just,  that  whatever  loss 
might  occur,  the  banks,  and  not  the  people,  should 
sustain  ;  and  on  the  i6th  of  May  he  issued  the  fol 
lowing  order :  — 

"  I.  It  is  hereto  ^rdered  that  neither  the  city  of  New  Orleans, 
nor  the  banks  thereof,  exchange  their  notes,  bills,  or  obligations 
for  Confederate  notes,  bills,  or  bonds,  nor  issue  any  bill,  note, 
or  obligation  payable  in  Confederate  notes. 

"  II.  On  the  twenty-seventh  day  of  May  inst.,  all  circulation 
of,  or  trade  in,  Confederate  notes  and  bills  will  cease  within  this 
department ;  and  all  sales  or  transfers  of  property  made  on  or 
after  that  day,  in  consideration  of  such  notes  or  bills,  directly 
or  indirectly,  will  be  void,  and  the  property  confiscated  to  the 
United  States,  one-fourth  thereof  to  go  to  the  informer. 

"B.  F.  BUTLER." 

This   threw  the  bankers  into  a  panic ;   and  they 


MAKES  AN  EFFORT  TO  RESTORE  CONFIDENCE.    113 

resolved  to  unload  their  Confederate  currency  before 
the  27th,  thus  throwing  the  loss  involved  by  their 
own  former  action  upon  the  innocent  people. 

The  papers  of  the  next  day  contained  announce 
ments  from  the  various  banks,  of  which  the  following 
is  a  sample  :  — 

"All  persons  having  deposited  Confederate  notes  in  this 
banking-house  are  notified  to  withdraw  them  before  the  27th 
inst.  Such  balances  as  may  not  be  withdrawn  will  be  con 
sidered  at  the  risk  of  the  owners." 

As  Mr.  Parton,  in  his  "  Butler  in  New  Orleans,'* 
justly  says, — 

"The  banks  had  introduced  this  worthless  currency,  had 
grown  rich  upon  it,  and  now  determined  to  throw  its  loss  upon 
their  innocent  victims,  —  the  people.  What  rendered  the  course 
of  the  banks  the  more  exasperating  was  the  fact,  that  a  wealthy 
corporation,  professing  entire  faith  in  the  ultimate  triumph  of 
the  Confederacy,  could  afford  to  hold  its  paper,  while  a  poor 
trader  would  be  ruined  by  the  suspension  of  his  little  capital." 

Gen.  Butler  read  these  advertisements  as  he  sipped 
his  coffee  on  the  morning  they  appeared,  and  imme 
diately  wrote  the  following :  — 

NEW  ORLEANS,  May  19,  1862. 
GENERAL  ORDER  No.  30: 

It  is  represented  to  the  commanding  general  that  great  dis 
tress,  privation,  hunger,  and  even  starvation,  have  been  brought 
upon  the  people  of  New  Orleans  and  vicinage  by  the  course 
taken  by  the  banks  and  dealers  in  currency. 

He  has  been  urged  to  take  measures  to  provide,  as  far  as- 
may  be,  for  the  relief  of  the  citizens,  so  that  the  loss  may  fall, 
at  least,  on  those  who  have  caused  and  ought  to  bear  it. 

The  general  sees  with  regret  that  the  banks  and  bankers 


114  LIFE    OF   BENJAMIN    F.   BUTLER. 

causelessly  suspended  specie-payments  in  September  last,  in 
contravention  of  the  laws  of  the  State  and  of  the  United 
States. 

Having;  done  so,  they  introduced  Confederate  notes  as  cur 
rency,  which  they  bought  at  a  discount,  in  place  of  their  own 
bills,  receiving  them  on  deposit,  paying  them  out  for  their  dis 
counts,  and  collecting  their  customers'  notes  and  drafts  in  them 
as  money,  sometimes  even  against  their  will,  thus  giving  these 
notes  credit  and  a  wide  general  circulation ;  so  that  they  were 
substituted  in  the  hands  of  the  middling-men,  the  poor  and 
unwary,  as  currency,  in  place  of  that  provided  by  the  Constitu 
tion  and  laws  of  the  country,  or  of  any  valuable  equivalent. 

The  banks  and  bankers  now  endeavor  to  take  advantage  of 
the  re-establishment  of  the  authority  of  the  United  States  to 
throw  the  depreciation  and  loss  from  this  worthless  stuff  of 
their  creation  and  fostering  upon  their  creditors,  depositors,  and 
bill-holders. 

They  refuse  to  receive  these  bills,  while  they  pay  them  over 
their  counters. 

They  require  their  depositors  to  take  them. 

They  change  the  obligation  of  contracts  by  stamping  their 
bills,  "  Redeemable  in  Confederate  notes." 

They  have  invested  the  savings  of  labor  and  the  pittance  of 
the  widow  in  this  paper. 

They  sent  away  or  hid  their  specie,  so  that  the  people  could 
have  nothing  but  these  notes,  which  they  now  depreciate,  with 
which  to  buy  bread. 

All  other  property  has  become  nearly  valueless  from  the 
calamities  of  this  iniquitous  and  unjust  war  begun  by  rebellious 
guns  turned  on  the  flag  of  our  prosperous  and  happy  country 
floating  over  Fort  Sumter.  Saved  from  the  general  ruin  by  a 
system  of  financiering,  bank-stocks  alone  are  now  selling  at 
great  premiums  in  the  market,  while  the  stockholders  have 
received  large  dividends. 

To  equalize,  as  far  as  may  be,  this  general  loss ;  to  have  it 
fall,  at  least  in  part,  where  it  ought  to  lie ;  to  enable  the  people 
of  this  city  and  vicinage  to  have  a  currency  which  shall  at  least 


MAKES  AN  EFFORT  TO  RESTORE  CONFIDENCE.    11$ 

be  a  semblance  to  that  which  the  wisdom  of  the  Constitution 
provides  for  all  citizens  of  the  United  States,  —  it  is  there 
fore 

Ordered,  I.  That  the  several  incorporated  banks  pay  out  no 
more  Confederate  notes  to  their  depositors  or  creditors  ;  but 
that  all  depositors  be  paid  in  the  bills  of  the  bank,  United  States 
treasury  notes,  gold,  or  silver. 

II.  That  all  private  bankers  receiving  deposits  pay  out  to 
their  depositors  only  the   current  bills   of  the   city  banks,  or 
United-States  treasury  notes,  gold,  or  silver. 

III.  That  the  savings  banks  pay  to  their  depositors  or  credit 
ors  only  gold,  silver,  or  United-States  treasury  notes,  current 
bills  of  city  banks,  or  their  own  bills,  to  an  amount  not  exceed 
ing  one-third  of  their  deposks,  and  of  denomination  not  less 
than  one  dollar,  which  they  are  authorized  to  issue,  and  for  the 
redemption  of  which  their  assets  shall  be  held  liable. 

IV.  The  incorporated  banks  are  authorized  to  issue  bills  of 
a  less  denomination  than  five  dollars,  but  not  less  than  one  dol 
lar,  any  thing  in  their  charters  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding; 
and  are  authorized  to  receive  Confederate  notes  for  any  of  their 
bills  until  the  twenty-seventh  day  of  May  inst. 

V.  That  all  persons  and  firms  having  issued  small  notes,  or 
"  shinplasters  "  so  called,  are  required  to  redeem  them  on  pres 
entation  at  their  places  of  business,  between  the  hours  of  nine 
A.M.  and  three  P.M.,  either  in  gold,  silver,  United-States  treas 
ury  notes,  or  current  bills  of  city  banks,  under  penalty  of  con 
fiscation  of  their  property,  and  sale  thereof,  for  the  purpose  of 
redemption  of  the  notes  so  issued,  or  imprisonment  for  a  term 
at  hard  labor. 

VI.  Private  bankers  may  issue  notes  of  denominations  not 
less  than  one  dollar,  nor  more  than  ten  dollars,  to  two-thirds  of 
the   amount   of   specie   which    they  show  to   a    commissioner 
appointed  from  these  headquarters,  in  their  vaults,  actually  kept 
there  for  the  purpose  of  redemption  of  such  notes. 

Mr.  Parton  tells  us  that  "The  relief  afforded  by 
the  publication  of  this  order  was  such  that,  as  a 


Il6  LIFE   OF    BENJAMIN    F.   BUTLER. 

secessionist  remarked  to  a  member  of  the  general's 
staff,  it  was  equivalent  to  a  re-enforcement  of  twenty 
thousand  men  to  the  Union  army ;  and  Union  men 
say  that  nothing  but  the  continual  bad  news  from 
McClellan's  army  prevented  this  measure  from  caus 
ing  an  open  and  general  manifestation  of  Union  feel 
ing.  But  as  it  was  thought  probable  that  the  city 
would  again,  and  soon,  pass  into  the  hands  of  the 
rebels,  the  people  feared  to  commit  themselves  to  a 
course  that  would  invite  the  vengeance  of  the  return 
ing  Confederates." 

One  bank  protested,  but,  the  general  remaining 
firm,  it  was  obliged  to  submit  with  the  best  grace  it 
could ;  and  in  a  very  short  period  the  city  had  as 
sound  a  currency  as  New  York  or  Boston,  and  com 
merce  revived  at  once,  —  a  remarkable  illustration  of 
Gen.  Butler's  financial  ability.  It  is  said  that  the 
bankers  of  New  Orleans  expressed  great  surprise  at 
finding  a  Yankee  lawyer  and  volunteer  general  as 
much  at  home  in  the  domain  of  finance  as  if  he  had 
spent  his  whole  life  in  a  bank.  Having  restored  a 
sound  currency,  the  general  turned  his  great  powers 
of  intellect  in  favor  of  a  general  restoration  of  the 
commerce  of  the  city  and  the  agriculture  of  the 
State.  He  had  brought  his  army  to  New  Orleans  on 
board  of  chartered  transport-ships.  These  he  must 
return  in  ballast ;  and  to  ballast  with  sand  from  Ship 
Island  would  cost  a  large  sum.  For  example :  the 
steamer  "  Mississippi "  cost  the  Government  fifteen 
hundred  dollars  per  day ;  to  bring  two  hundred  and 
fifty  tons  of  sand  in  small  boats,  and  load  it  in,  would 


MAKES  AN  EFFORT  TO  RESTORE  CONFIDENCE. 

take  ten  days,  and  to  discharge  it  in  New  York,  four 
more  :  fourteen  days,  at  fifteen  hundred  dollars  per 
day,  is  twenty-one  thousand  dollars.  He  could  bal 
last  with  sugar,  and  make  a  large  profit,  and  besides 
increase  the  revenues  of  the  merchants  of  New 
Orleans  and  the  planters  of  Louisiana,  as  well  as  of 
the  United  States.  A  brilliant  idea! 

He  had  very  little  government  money ;  so  he 
pledged  his  private  credit  for  a  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  and  loaned  it  to  the  Government  to  buy 
sugar  with  which  to  load  these  ships.  This  transac 
tion  was  very  profitable  to  the  Government ;  while  all 
Gen.  Butler  received  in  the  way  of  reward  was  a  large 
dividend  of  abuse  and  slander,  which  grew  out  of  the 
fact  that  other  people  judged  him  by  themselves. 
The  owners  of  the  ships,  though  receiving  enormous 
rental  for  their  vessels,  insisted  on  being  paid  freights 
on  this  sugar,  which  the  general  justly  refused;  and, 
failing  in  their  efforts  to  rob  the  Government, 
through  the  integrity  of  Gen.  Butler,  who  opposed 
their  claims,  they  accused  him,  by  insinuation  and 
hint  only,  of  making  money  on  this  sugar  operation. 
It  is  possible  they  thought  that  in  some  way  he  was 
re-imbursed  for  the  use  of  his  money ;  but  the  Secre 
tary  of  the  Treasury  knew  he  did  not  make  a  dollar. 
It  has  been  stated  as  a  fact  by  half  the  newspapers 
of  the  country,  and  repeated  by  his  political  oppo 
nents  thousands  of  times,  that  Gen.  Butler  got  rich 
while  in  New  Orleans,  by  speculating  in  sugar  and 
cotton.  The  author,  after  thorough  investigation,  is 
prepared  to  state  positively,  and  does  so  state,  that 


H8  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

the  charge  is  absolutely  false  in  every  part  and  par 
ticular.  Not  that  these  editors  and  politicians,  and 
even  preachers,  all  mean  to  be  guilty  of  wilful  lying. 
Some  of  them  do  ;  but  they  gladly  believe  a  lie  which 
sounds  reasonable,  and  suits  their  purpose, — that  of 
injuring  the  man  they  envy  or  fear.  Gen.  Butler's 
only  cotton  transaction  was  as  follows  :  — 

"The  navy  captured  a  small  schooner  laden  with  cotton. 
*  I  needed,'  says  the  general,  '  the  schooner  as  a  lighter,  arid 
took  her  from  the  navy.  What  should  be  done  with  the  cotton  ? 
A  transport  was  going  home  empty:  it  would  cost  nothing 
to  transport  it.  To  whom  should  I  send  it?  To  my  quarter 
master  at  Boston  ?  But  .1  supposed  him  on  the  way  here. 
Owing  to  the  delays  of  the  expedition,  I  found  all  the  quarter 
masters,  men,  and  artisans  on  the  island,  whose  services  were 
indispensable,  almost  in  a  state  of  mutiny  for  want  of  pay. 
There  was  not  a  dollar  of  government  funds  on  the  island.  I 
had  but  seventy-five  dollars  of  my  own.  The  sutler  had  money 
he  would  loan  on  my  draft  on  my  private  banker.  I  borrowed 
on  such  draft  about  four  thousand  dollars,  quite  equal  to  the 
value  of  the  cotton,  as  I  received  it;  and  with  the  money  I 
paid  the  government  debts  to  the  laborers,  so  that  their  wives 
and  children  would  not  starve.  In  order  that  my  draft  should 
be  paid,  I  sent  the  cotton  to  my  correspondent  at  Boston,  with 
directions  to  sell  it,  pay  my  draft  out  of  the  proceeds,  and  hold 
the  rest,  if  any,  subject  to  my  order,  so  that,  upon  the  account 
stated,  I  might  settle  with  the  Government.  What  was  done  ? 
The  Government  seized  the  cotton,  without  a  word  of  explana 
tion  to  me,  kept  it  until  it  had  depreciated  ten  per  cent,  and 
allowed  my  draft  to  be  dishonored ;  and  it  had  to  be  paid  out 
of  the  little  fund  I  had  left  at  home  for  the  support  of  my  chil 
dren  in  my  absence." 

When  the  history  of  the  cotton,  and  of  the  trans 
actions  connected  with  it,  reached  the  Government, 


MAKES  AN  EFFORT  TO  RESTORE  CONFIDENCE.         1 19 

the  money  Gen.  Butler  had  spent  was  refunded  to 
him,  with  an  apology  for  the  bad  treatment  he  had 
received. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  sole  object  in  both  transac 
tions  was  to  serve  the  Government,  and  promote  the 
interests  of  others,  —  the  planters  in  the  one  case, 
and  the  employees  in  the  other ;  and  these  were  the 
only  instances  of  his  having  any  connection  with 
such  matters. 

It  was'  to  be  expected  that  secessionists  and  seces 
sion  organs,  North  and  South,  would  denounce  and 
slander  an  officer  so  able  and  active  as  Gen.  Butler ; 
and  they  did.  His  taking  possession  of  and  occupy 
ing  the  residence  of  Gen.  Twiggs  furnished  an 
excuse  for  starting  on  its  rounds  the  now  notorious 
but  absurd  story  that  he  stole  the  spoons  and  other 
articles  of  silver  plate  which  he  found  there.  The 
author  asked  Gen.  Butler  for  a  statement  in  regard 
to  the  plate  found  in  the  Twiggs  mansion.  He 
said,  — 

"  On  moving  into  the  residence  of  Gen.  Twiggs  I  found  no 
plate  ;  but  a  few  days  later  one  of  the  general's  former  servants 
informed  me  that  a  box  of  valuables  was  buried  beneath  the 
floor  of  a  cellar.  This  I  ordered  dug  up.  I  found  with  this 
box  three  elegant  swords  which  had  been  presented  to  Gen. 
Twiggs  in  recognition  of  his  public  services  in  the  Mexican 
war,  with  a  lot  of  silver  plate.  The  swords  I  forwarded  to  the 
President,  with  a  recommendation  that  one  of  them  be  hung  in 
the  Patent  Office,  one  in  West  Point  Academy,  and  the  other 
be  presented  to  some  officer  of  the  army  for  distinguished 
services. 

"The  President  adopted  my  recommendation,  and  laid  it 
before  Congress,  where  it  rests  still.  The  swords  were  still  at 


I2O  LIFE    OF   BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

the  White  House  after  Mr.  Johnson  became  President ;  but  at 
my  request  I  was  permitted  to  deposit  them  in  a  treasury- 
vault  for  safe  keeping.  The  silver  plate  I  ordered  put  back 
on  to  the  sideboard ;  and  during  my  residence  there  I  used  it 
as  I  did  other  ware  and  furniture;  and  on  surrendering  the 
command  to  my  successor,  Gen.  Banks,  I  turned  it  over  to  him, 
taking  the  receipt  of  his  quartermaster  for  it.  I  hear  that  it  sub 
sequently  disappeared  in  some  mysterious  way,  but  I  have  no 
means  of  knowing  who  got  it.  Some  time  after  the  war  a  daugh 
ter  of  Gen.  Twiggs  called  upon  me  in  Washington,  accompanied 
by  Gen.  Garfield,  to  inquire  as  to  the  disposal  of  her  father's 
swords.  I  told  her  that  the  swords  were  in  one  of  the  vaults  of 
the  Treasury  Building ;  that  there  were  two  keys  to  the  box  con 
taining  them,  one  of  which  was  in  the  possession  of  the  Secre 
tary  of  the  Treasury,  and  the  other  in  my  possession.  Seeing 
no  reason  why  she  should  not  now  have  these  swords,  I  gave  her 
a  letter  to  the  Secretary,  recommending  that  they  be  returned 
to  the  family  through  her.  It  was  not  done,  however;  and  the 
swords  are  still  where  I  deposited  them,  in  the  treasury.  I 
said  to  Miss  Twiggs,  l  Why  don't  you  ask  about  the  family 
plate  ?  I  suppose  you  think  I  took  that,  and  I  don't  blame  you 
for  thinking  so ;  but  I  am  glad  of  this  opportunity  to  relieve 
myself  from  that  suspicion.'  I  then  told  her  of  the  voucher 
of  Gen.  Banks,  covering,  among  other  things,  this  lost  plate. 
That  [said  the  general]  is  all  I  know  about  the  spoon  story, 
except  that  it  was  started  in  the  Virginia  legislature  by  one 
Daniels,  whom  I  had  punished  for  subornation  of  perjury,  a 
secessionist  member  of  that  body,  who  was  afterwards  appoint 
ed  by  Johnson  to  a  customs  office  in  Norfolk,  defaulted,  and 
ran  away." 

Gen.  Butler  could  not  revive  the  trade  of  New 
Orleans  with  the  interior  of  the  State  very  greatly, 
for  the  reason,  that,  acting  on  the  advice  of  fiery  rebel 
leaders,  the  planters  had  destroyed  most  of  their  cot 
ton  to  prevent  its  falling  into  the  general's  hands. 


MAKES  AN  EFFORT  TO  RESTORE  CONFIDENCE.        121 

But  his  efforts  proved  his  good  intentions,  and  had 
great  influence  in  restoring  confidence  in  and  respect 
for  the  Government  he  represented ;  and  all  seemed 
going  well,  till  the  news  of  the  disasters  to  our  forces 
in  Virginia  raised  the  hopes  of  the  rebels  that  it 
would  be  but  a  short  time  before  New  Orleans  would 
again  be  under  Confederate  rule.  As  this  impression 
strengthened  under  the  influence  of  the  continued 
bad  news  from  Washington  and  Richmond,  the  mob 
element  again  asserted  itself.  On  the  loth  of  July 
an  alarming  riot  occurred.  A  woman  not  only  dis 
played  a  secession  badge  on  the  street  near  the 
general's  headquarters,  but  used  insulting  language 
toward  a  soldier,  evidently  for  the  purpose  of  provok 
ing  an  attempt  to  arrest  her ;  and  when  a  policeman 
took  her  in  charge,  she  appealed  to  the  Southern 
chivalry  for  protection,  in  a  manner  so  dramatic, 
that  an  attack  was  at  once  made  upon  the  officer  by 
the  mob.  Clubs  were  used  freely,  and  a  pistol  was 
fired.  The  policeman  was  knocked  down,  and  a 
soldier  wounded.  A  military  officer  fired  on  the 
assassin  who  shot  the  soldier,  when  at  least  one  hun 
dred  returned  rebel  soldiers  joined  the  mob ;  and,  but 
for  the  courage  and  firmness  of  the  police  and  Union 
soldiers  present,  a  terrible  tragedy  would  undoubt 
edly  have  occurred,  and  the  riot  would  have  become 
general  throughout  the  city,  which  was  evidently  the 
purpose  of  this  woman  and  her  allies.  She  and 
some  of  her  chief  supporters  were  taken  before  Gen. 
Shepley,  who  sent  her  to  Gen.  Butler.  The  general 
recognized  her  as  the  wife,  or  mistress,  of  a  notorious 


122  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

gambler,  then  in  Fort  Jackson  for  a  similar  offence ; 
and  he  sent  her  there  to  keep  him  company. 

A  few  days  subsequently,  the  funeral  procession 
accompanying  the  body  of  the  gallant  Lieut.  De  Kay 
was  insulted  by  rebel  women ;  and  Mrs.  Philips,  wife 
of  Philip  Philips,  well  known  at  Washington  as  a 
prominent  favorite  at  the  White  House  during  Bu 
chanan's  administration,  and  who  had  been  banished 
from  the  capital  for  aiding  the  rebels  early  in  the 
war,  was  arrested  and  imprisoned.  She  was  released 
after  a  few  weeks,  by  order  of  Gen.  Butler,  on  her 
promise  to  behave  herself  in  a  proper  manner  hence 
forth. 

But  to  record  all  the  incidents  connected  with 
Gen.  Butler's  career  at  New  Orleans  would  require 
many  volumes  :  a  few  only  can  be  given  in  this  brief 
history,  enough  to  show  that  his  rule  was  vigorous, 
humane,  patriotic,  just,  and  wise,  hence  successful. 

That  the  mailed  hand  of  this  great  chieftain  rested 
upon  Southern  men  and  women  with  such  fearful 
power,  was  due  to  the  fact  that  they  were  in  rebellion 
against  the  Government,  and  he  was  putting  down 
rebellion.  He  did  not  spare  his  own  men  when  they 
violated  the  law,  as  the  following  incident  clearly 
shows. 

Complaints  reached  the  general  on  the  1 2th  of 
June,  that  a  party  of  men,  bearing  a  pretended  order 
from  him,  had  robbed  a  house  on  Toulouse  Street, 
which  they  had  entered  under  pretence  of  searching 
for  concealed  arms.  He  took  prompt  measures  for 
their  detection  and  arrest ;  and  on  the  same  day  four 


MAKES  AN  EFFORT  TO  RESTORE  CONFIDENCE.         123 

men  were  arrested,  and  brought  before  him.  He 
had  an  indistinct  recollection  of  one  of  them,  and 
asked,  "Where  have  I  seen  you  ? " 

"  In  Boston." 

"Where  in  Boston?" 

"  In  the  municipal  court." 

"  For  what  offence  were  you  before  that  court  ? " 

"Burglary." 

"  What  regiment  did  you  join  ?  " 

"The  Thirtieth  Massachusetts." 

"  Why  are  you  not  with  your  regiment  ?  " 

"I  was  discharged." 

"What  for?" 

"Disease." 

"  Well,  you  ought  to  be  hanged ;  for  you  have 
robbed  before,  and  been  convicted." 

"  Dorit  do  it,  general,  and  I'll  tell  you  all  about  it." 

He  said  he  was  a  member  of  a  band  organized 
for  plundering  houses.  Two  others  confessed  their 
guilt,  and  three  further  arrests  were  made  on  the 
next  day.  After  a  fair  trial,  Lieut.  William  M.  Clary, 
late  second  officer  of  the  United-States  steam  trans 
port  "  Saxon,"  Stanislaus  Roy  of  New  Orleans, 
George  William  Craig,  late  first  officer  of  "  The  City 
of  New  York,"  Frank  Newton,  late  private  of  the 
Thirteenth  Connecticut  Volunteers,  and  Theodore 
Lieb  of  New  Orleans,  were  convicted ;  and  on  the 
1 6th  of  June,  Craig,  Newton,  Clary,  and  Roy  were 
hung ;  while  Lieb,  in  consequence  of  his  extreme 
youth,  he  being  but  eighteen,  was  sent  to  prison 
during  the  pleasure  of  the  President. 


124  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

"  The  effect  of  this,"  says  Mr.  Parton,  "  was  most 
salutary  upon  the  minds  of  both  parties  in  New 
Orleans."  It  settled  the  fact  that  Gen.  Butler  was 
a  just  man,  who  would  protect  the  righteous,  and 
punish  the  iniquitous,  whether  friend  or  foe,  as  the 
terms  were  then  understood ;  though  Gen.  Butler 
knew  no  foes  but  those  in  open  rebellion  against  the 
Government,  nor  friends  save  those  who  obeyed  its 
just  laws. 


TAKING  THE  OATH  OF  ALLEGIANCE.      125 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

TAKING  THE  OATH  OF  ALLEGIANCE. THE  PEOPLE  OF 

NEW  ORLEANS  REQUIRED  TO  DEFINE  THEIR  POSI 
TION.  MORE  TROUBLE  WITH  THE  CONSULS,  ETC. 

ON  the  loth  of  June,  Gen.  Butler  issued  General 
Order  No.  41,  requiring  all  civil  officers  and 
attorneys  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  as  a  condition 
precedent  to  their  continuing  to  exercise  their  respec 
tive  functions.  All  citizens  who  might  desire  to 
receive  the  protection  of  the  Government  (except 
mere  protection  from  personal  violence),  or  any  favor, 
privilege,  passport,  &c.,  or  to  have  money  paid  them, 
or  property  delivered  to  them,  must  take  the  oath  of 
allegiance. 

All  foreigners  claiming  protection  or  favors  from 
the  United  States  were  required  to  swear  to  do  no 
act,  or  conceal,  or  consent  to  any  act  that  should  aid 
or  comfort,  any  of  the  enemies  or  opposers  of  the 
United  States,  while  their  respective  governments 
remained  at  peace  with  the  United  States. 

This  order  aroused  the  ire  of  the  foreign  consuls, 
as  well  as  the  domestic  traitors.  "The  Delta"  hu 
morously  said, — 


126  LIFE   OF   BENJAMIN    F.   BUTLER. 

"  If  Gen.  Butler  rides  up  street,  the  consuls  are  sure  to  come 
in  a  body,  and  protest  that  he  did  not  ride  down.  If  he  smokes 
a  pipe  in  the  morning,  a  deputation  calls  upon  him  in  the  even 
ing  to  know  why  he  did  not  smoke  a  cigar.  If  he  drinks  coffee, 
they  will  send  some  rude  messenger  with  a  note  asking  in  the 
name  of  some  tottering  dynasty  why  he  did  not  drink  tea." 

In  this  instance  they  joined  in  a  lengthy  protest, 
which  wholly  misrepresented  the  order,  and  was  evi 
dently  meant  to  mislead  the  people,  and  prejudice 
them  against  Gen.  Butler,  rather  than  to  right  any 
wrong  possible  to  those  they  professed  to  represent. 

The  general  replied,  reviewing  in  a  most  scathing 
manner  the  treasonable  record  of  the  consuls  and 
other  foreigners,  showing  that  many  had  joined  the 
rebel  army,  and  all  had  willingly  sworn  allegiance  to 
the  Confederate  Government :  hence  he  could  not 
abate  his  order,  to  oblige  even  so  respectable  and 
sensitive  a  body  of  gentlemen  as  the  seven  represen 
tatives  of  European  states,  whose  names  were  signed 
to  the  protest. 

The  aristocracy  of  New  Orleans  protested,  not  in 
a  formal,  but  a  most  effectual  way.  Persons  who 
took  the  oath  were  denied  admission  to  the  best 
society.  Gentlemen  were  cut  on  the  street  by  ladies 
of  their  acquaintance,  and  turned  out  of  boarding- 
houses  by  high-toned  landladies.  The  advantages 
were  so  great,  however,  that  a  very  large  number 
took  the  oath,  over  fourteen  thousand  within  a  month. 
With  a  view  to  the  absolute  preservation  of  the  city 
from  riot  and  bloodshed,  the  general  ordered  all  pri 
vate  arms,  revolvers,  bowie-knives,  &c.,  to  be  sur* 


TAKING  THE  OATH  OF  ALLEGIANCE. 

rendered  to  the  military  authorities.  Of  course  the 
consuls  protested ;  but  the  city  was  completely  dis 
armed,  notwithstanding  this  official  protest,  every 
man  receiving  a  receipt  for  his  property,  with  assur 
ance  of  its  return  so  soon  as  the  interests  of  the  city 
and  country  would  justify  it. 

The  complaint,  that  disarming  the  people  would 
subject  them  to  danger  of  being  robbed,  caused  the 
general  to  issue  the  following  order :  — 

"  That,  hereafter,  the  offences  of  robbery  by  violence  or  ag 
gravated  assault,  that  ought  to  be  repelled  by  the  use  of  deadly 
weapons,  burglaries,  rapes,  and  murders,  whether  committed 
by  blacks  or  whites,  will  be,  on  conviction,  punished  by 
death." 

Following  upon  the  order  to  take  the  oath  of  alle 
giance,  and  the  disarming  of  the  city,  came  the  one 
to  confiscate  the  property  of  rebellious  citizens. 

This  was  in  direct  obedience  to  the  act  of  Congress 
of  July  17,  1862,  which  made  it  the  duty  of  all  com 
manding  generals  to  confiscate  to  the  use  of  the  Gov 
ernment  at  once  all  property  of  all  who  held  office, 
civil  or  military,  under  the  Confederate  Government, 
and  of  all  others  who  refused  to  take  the  oath  of  al 
legiance  to  the  United  States  within  sixty  days  after 
notice  by  proclamation  by  the  President. 

Among  the  leading  traitors  of  New  Orleans,  Gen. 
Twiggs  and  John  Slidell  were  most  prominent,  and 
their  estates  were  the  first  which  Gen.  Butler  seized ; 
and  the  aristocratic  mansion  of  the  former  became 
the  residence  of  the  commanding  general  and  his 
staff.  Among  the  papers  of  Gen.  Twiggs  were  found 


128  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN   F.    BUTLER. 

letters  which  proved  that  he  had  sought  the  com 
mand  of  the  Union  forces  in  Texas  for  the  express 
purpose  of  betraying  his  Government,  —  an  act  only 
paralleled  by  the  treason  of  Benedict  Arnold.  Gen. 
Butler  found  that  constant  vigilance  was  necessary 
to  defeat  the  ingenuity  and  activity  of  the  rebel  peo 
ple  of  New  Orleans.  Those  who  were  allowed  sixty 
days'  grace  before  the  confiscation-act  could  reach 
their  property  began  at  once  to  dispose  of  it  by  sale 
at  nominal  prices  to  non-residents,  minors,  &c.  The 
general  met  this  with  an  order  rendering  all  such 
transfers  illegal  and  null.  He  was  resolved  that 
nothing  should  save  their  property  from  confiscation 
but  the  taking  of  the  oath  of  allegiance. 

The  clergy  of  the  city  were  all  rebels  in  sentiment, 
and  resolved  to  remain  so :  yet  they  hoped  to  escape 
the  loss  of  their  property  on  account  of  their  sacred 
profession,  —  surely  no  profane  hand  could  ruthlessly 
touch  the  money  or  property  of  a  minister  of  the 
gospel.  Rev.  Dr.  Mercer  wrote  Gen.  Butler,  claim 
ing  to  be  entirely  neutral,  but  refusing  to  take  the 
oath.  The  general  replied,  — 

"  In  my  opinion,  there  can  be  no  such  thing  as  neutrality  by 
a  citizen  of  the  United  States.  He  that  is  not  for  us  is  against 
us.  As  an  officer,  I  cannot  recognize  such  neutrality.  All  good 
citizens  are  called  upon,  to  lend  their  influence  to  the  United 
States :  all  who  do  not  do  so  are  the  enemies  of  the  United 
States.  I  cannot  permit  any  reservation  of  property  from  the 
list,  or  any  exemption  of  persons  from  the  requirements  of 
Order  No.  76." 

Rev.  Dr.  Leacock  claimed  to  be  a  Union-man, 
yet  declined  to  take  the  oath ;  but  Gen.  Butler  had 


TAKING  THE  OATH  OF  ALLEGIANCE. 

got  possession  of  a  sermon  of  his,  preached  in  No 
vember,  1860,  and  published  as  a  campaign  docu 
ment  by  the  leaders  of  the  secession  movement. 
This  sermon  was  full  of  rebel  sentiment.  It  closed 
as  follows :  — 

"  I  am  willing,  at  the  call  of  my  country,  to  die  a  free  man ; 
but  I'll  never,  no,  never,  live  a  slave ;  and  the  alternative  now 
presented  by  our  enemies  is  secession  or  slavery.  Let  it  be  lib 
erty  or  death ! " 

The  reverend  doctor  did  not  succeed  in  softening 
the  heart  of  the  general  so  far  as  to  secure  exemp 
tion  from  the  order. 

Major  Strong,  chief  of  Gen.  Butler's  staff,  being  a 
good  Episcopalian,  went  into  Rev.  Dr.  Goodrich's 
church  on  an  October  sabbath,  and  joined  the  exer 
cises  until  the  prayer  for  the  President  was  reached, 
which  was  omitted,  the  doctor  asking  the  congrega 
tion  to  spend  a  few  moments  in  silent  prayer.  There 
could  be  but  one  reason  for  this,  —  to  pray  in  silence 
for  Jefferson  Davis. 

The  major  was  indignant ;  and,  rising  to  his  feet,  he 
said,  "  Stop,  sir  !  It  is  my  duty  to  bring  these  exer 
cises  to  a  close.  I  came  here  for  the  sole  purpose  of 
worshipping  God  ;  but,  as  you  omit  invoking  the  bless 
ing  our  church-service  requires  upon  the  President  of 
the  nation,  I  propose  to  close  the  services.  This 
house  will  be  shut  within  ten  minutes." 

The  minister  was  full  of  holy  (?)  wrath,  the  ladies 
indignant ;  but  the  major's  orders  were  obeyed. 

Gen.  Butler  summoned  the  Episcopal  clergy  to 
meet  him  at  his  office  on  the  next  day.  They 


I3O  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

claimed  that  they  were  only  obeying  the  orders  of 
their  bishop,  the  Right  Rev.  Major-Gen.  Polk.  The 
general  refused  to  recognize  the  authority. 

Dr.  Leacock  asked,  "Well,  general,  are  you  going 
to  shut  up  the  churches  ?  " 

"  No,  sir.  I  am  more  likely  to  shut  up  the  minis 
ters."  And  he  did,  filling  their  places  by  chaplains 
from  his  army. 

Major  Strong  and  Dr.  Goodrich  subsequently  met 
in  New  York,  and  had  a  pleasant  time  talking  and 
laughing  over  their  first  meeting.  The  good  doctor 
had  got  pretty  thoroughly  reconstructed  in  the  mean 
time, — a  fine  illustration  of  the  flexibility  of  the  hu 
man  mind,  which  at  one  time,  owing  solely  to  the 
prejudices  of  education  and  the  circumstances  sur 
rounding  it,  honestly  holds  to  views  which  at  another 
it  with  equal  sincerity  repudiates.  In  this  fact  is 
found  the  hope  we  all  entertain  of  perfect  restoration 
of  that  fraternal  feeling  and  bond  of  national  unity 
between  the  people  of  this  country  which  character 
ized  our  fathers  in  the  early  days  of  the  Republic. 


DEALING    WITH   THE    NEGRO-QUESTION. 


CHAPTER   XV. 

GEN.    BUTLER    DEALING   WITH     THE     NEGRO-QUESTION. 

GEN.    PHELPS    THINKS    HIM    AN    OLD    HUNKER    ON 

THE  SUBJECT,  AND  RESIGNS. PRESIDENT  LINCOLN'S 

PRIVATE  ORDERS    TO    GEN.   BUTLER,   THE    SECRET    OF 
HIS    POLICY,    ETC. 

WHEN  Gen.  Butler  was  about  leaving  Washing 
ton  for  New  Orleans,  President  Lincoln  said 
to  him,  "  The  Government  is  not  yet  ready  to  an 
nounce  a  negro  policy.  We  hope  to  arrive  at  one 
ere  long.  In  the  mean  time,  endeavor  to  avoid  rais 
ing  insoluble  problems  and  sharply  denned  issues. 
Try  to  manage  so  that  neither  abolitionists  nor  con 
servatives  will  have  room  to  find  fault."  Rather 
difficult  instructions  to  follow  under  the  circum 
stances  surrounding  Gen.  Butler ;  but  he  followed 
them  as  nearly  as  possible. 

The  negroes  everywhere  seemed  to  regard  the  sol 
diers  as  their  friends  ;  and  they  only  waited  for  the 
smallest  hint  to  rush  in,  and  claim  the  protection  of 
the  army.  Indeed,  it  was  a  difficult  task  to  keep 
them  out  of  the  lines.  In  many  cases  it  would  have 
been  not  only  unjust  and  cruel  to  have  done  so,  but 


132  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

impolitic,  for  the  reason  that  they  brought  valuable 
information  which  could  be  relied  upon.  The  slaves 
were  all  loyal  to  the  Government ;  but  the  army  could 
not  feed,  or  find  employment  for,  an  army  of  one  hun 
dred  thousand  black  men,  women,  and  children,  nor 
would  it  have  been  the  proper  thing  to  do,  to  take 
them  off  the  plantations  while  the  crops  were  in  pro 
cess  of  cultivation.  Had  Gen.  Butler  had  full  discre 
tionary  power,  he  would  have  solved  the  problem  by 
issuing  a  proclamation  of  emancipation,  including  a 
provision  binding  the  negroes  to  remain  with  their 
former  masters  on  such  wages  as  could  afterwards  be 
agreed  upon  ;  but  he  dared  not  risk  a  revocation  of  such 
an  order,  after  the  news  of  the  fate  of  Gen.  Hunter's 
emancipation  proclamation  in  South  Carolina. 

In  New  Orleans  negroes  were  given  the  same  pro 
tection  the  whites  received,  even  to  the  extent  of 
being  permitted  to  testify  in  courts  of  justice  :  hence 
cruelty  to  slaves  substantially  ceased  in  the  city,  for 
the  reason  that  if  a  negro  was  whipped,  or  in  any 
manner  ill-treated,  he  or  she  could  have  the  master 
or  mistress  arrested,  and  Major  Bell  tried  such  cases 
just  as  he  would  if  such  relations  as  slave  and  master 
had  not  existed. 

Gen.  Butler  gave  orders  which  were  to  be  consid 
ered  permanent,  to  admit  all  colored  persons  who 
might  ask  to  see  him  :  his  chief  reason  for  which 
order  was  that  he  had  a  voluntary,  vigilant,  and  trust 
worthy  spy  in  every  negro  in  his  department,  and 
this  because  the  negroes  knew  that  in  the  general 
they  had  a  friend  who  would  redress  their  wrongs. 


DEALING    WITH    THE    NEGRO-QUESTION.  133 

Gen.  J.  W.  Phelps,  an  old-time  Vermont  abolition' 
ist,  a  man  of  honest  purpose  and  strong  convictions, 
was  in  command  of  the  post  at  Carrollton.  To  his 
camp  the  poor  slaves  came  singly  and  in  gangs.  He 
welcomed  them,  and  resolved,  if  not  interfered  with, 
to  turn  all  the  able-bodied  men  into  soldiers. 

Complaints  began  to  come  to  Gen.  Butler,  that 
Gen.  Phelps  was  harboring  slaves  of  Union  men ;  and 
the  general,  fearing  that  if  not  checked,  this  influx 
of  negroes  would  overwhelm  Gen.  Phelps,  wrote  him 
to  not  permit  unemployed  persons,  black  or  white, 
to  come  into  his  lines,  or  remain  there.  Gen.  Phelps 
felt  injured  and  grieved,  and  at  once  wrote  a  labored 
protest,  covering  in  his  argument  the  whole  question. 
This  was  not  only  meant  for  the  eye  of  his  superior 
officer,  but  for  that  of  the  President,  to  whom  he 
asked  that  it  be  sent. 

Gen.  Butler  forwarded  this  able  letter,  accompany 
ing  it  by  one  of  his  own,  in  which  he  said,  — 

"  Gen.  Phelps,  I  believe,  intends  making  this  a  test  case  for 
the  policy  of  the  Government.  I  wish  it  might  be  so,  for  the 
difference  of  our  action  upon  this  subject  is  a  source  of  trouble. 
I  respect  his  honest  sincerity  of  opinion ;  but  I  am  a  soldier, 
bound  to  carry  out  the  wishes  of  my  Government  so  long  as  I 
hold  its  commission,  and  I  understand  that  policy  to  be  the  one  I 
am  pursuing.  I  beg  to  leave  the  whole  matter  with  the  President, 
with  the  assurance  that  his  wishes  shall  be  loyally  followed." 

No  reply  coming  for  a  month,  Gen.  Phelps  took  it 
for  granted  that  his  views  were  indorsed ;  and  he  at 
once  organized  three  regiments  of  colored  troops, 
making  a  requisition  for  arms  and  clothing,  &c.,  on 


134  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

Capt.  Davis,  A.A.G.,  New  Orleans.  Gen.  Butler 
had  just  received  authority  to  employ  as  many  negro 
laborers  as  the  service  might  require  ;  and  he  ordered 
Gen.  Phelps  to  put  his  negroes  to  work  cutting  down 
trees,  and  forming  abattis,  and  instructed  the  quarter 
master  to  furnish  axes,  tents,  &c. 

Gen.  Phelps  refused  to  do  this,  and  insisted  upon 
his  own  plan  of  making  soldiers  of  the  negroes. 
Gen.  Butler  was  patient  but  firm.  A  long  corre 
spondence  ensued;  and  finally  Gen.  Phelps,  finding  he 
could  not  have  his  own  way  in  the  matter,  resigned, 
and  left  the  service.  He  returned  to  his  farm  in  the 
Green  Mountain  State,  where  the  offer  of  a  major- 
general's  commission  reached  him  a  year  later ;  but 
he  declined  it  on  the  ground  that  it  did  not  date  back 
to  the  time  of  his  resignation,  so  as  to  be  an  indorse 
ment  of  his  position  at  that  time. 

ARMING   THE    FREE    COLORED    MEN. 

After  the  battle  of  Baton  Rouge,  Gen.  Butler  re 
solved  to  arm  the  free  colored  men  of  New  Orleans, 
in  doing  which  he  was  but  following  the  example  of 
Gen.  Jackson  when  in  command  of  the  city,  during 
the  war  of  1812.  This  measure  seemed  a  necessity; 
for,  although  the  rebel  forces  were  being  re-enforced 
all  about  him,  his  urgent  requests  for  additional 
troops  had  been  refused  by  the  authorities  at  Wash 
ington,  on  the  ground  that  they  could  not  spare 
them. 

On  consultation  with  some  of  the  principal  colored 
men,  the  general  found  them  eager  to  enter  the  ranks 


DEALING   WITH   THE    NEGRO-QUESTION.  135 

of  the  army  of  freedom ;  and  in  a  short  time  three 
regiments  of  infantry,  and  two  companies  of  artil 
lery,  were  ready  for  duty.  There  were  very  few  full- 
blooded  negroes,  or  mulattoes  even,  among  them  : 
they  were  quadroons  and  octoroons,  in  whose  veins 
ran  the  best  blood  of  Louisiana,  and  they  did  not 
disgrace  it  on  the  battle-field. 

This  measure  of  Gen.  Butler's  met  the  approval  of 
the  Union  citizens  of  the  city,  as  well  as  most  of  his 
officers  and  men  ;  but  the  secessionists  of  course 
objected,  although  the  rebel  governor,  Moore,  had 
armed  these  same  men  in  the  interest  of  secession  in 
1861. 

A  mob  of  Frenchmen  came  in  collision  with  a 
detachment  of  colored  troops,  whom  they  attacked 
on  the  street,  the  result  of  which  was  that  the 
Frenchmen  got  worsted,  of  which  the  French  con 
sul  complained  to  the  commanding  general,  and  was 
answered  that  these  men  had  as  good  blood  in  them, 
indeed,  the  same  that  warmed  the  heart  of  the  dis 
tinguished  French  author  Alexandre  Dumas,  who 
was  treated  with  the  utmost  respect  by  the  aristoc 
racy  of  Paris :  and,  besides,  his  countrymen  had  been 
entirely  to  blame  in  this  affair ;  the  colored  troops 
had  simply  defended  themselves  when  attacked  by 
an  unlawful  and  brutal  mob. 

About  the  middle  of  October,  Gen.  Butler  resolved 
to  put  the  fugitive  and  contraband  negroes  to  work 
on  the  plantations  that  had  been  abandoned  by 
their  owners.  His  plan  was  to  work  these  planta 
tions  on  behalf  of  the  Government,  paying  the 


136  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

negroes  living  wages.  This  or  some  other  plan  for 
the  relief  of  these  poor  creatures  was  a  necessity  if 
he  would  not  see  them  starve ;  for  there  were  many 
thousands  of  them  without  masters,  homes,  or  food. 

The  general  also  resolved  to  give  the  loyal  plant 
ers  of  Louisiana  an  opportunity  to  try  the  experi 
ment  of  the  wage-system  with  the  negroes  ;  and  this 
resolution  was  put  in  the  form  of  a  general  order  on 
the  1 8th  of  October.  Both  plans  worked  admirably. 

On  being  informed  by  letter  from  Gen.  Butler,  of 
these  radical  innovations,  President  Lincoln  seemed 
much  interested  and  pleased.  It  will  interest  the 
reader  to  learn  that  the  first  barrel  of  sugar  made  by 
the  negroes  of  Louisiana  under  this  new  system  of 
paid  labor  was  sent  to  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  accompanied  by  a  letter  from  Gen.  Butler  in 
which  he  says,  "  The  fact  that  it  will  have  no  flavor 
of  the  cruel  and  degrading  whip  will  not,  I  know, 
render  it  less  sweet  to  your  taste." 

Never,  perhaps,  in  the  history  of  the  world,  did  it 
devolve  on  one  man  to  decide  so  many  new  ques 
tions,  and  establish  so  many  precedents,  under  such 
embarrassing  circumstances,  in  so  brief  a  period,  as 
fell  to  the  lot  of  Gen.  Butler  during  his  career  as 
commander  of  the  Department  of  the  Gulf;  and 
surely  never  were  such  generalship,  statesmanship, 
and  executive  wisdom  displayed  as  characterized 
his  administration.  The  history  of  it  reads  like  a 
romance ;  and,  if  it  had  come  down  to  us  from  the 
days  of  Julius  Caesar,  we  would  regard  it  as  extrava 
gant  fiction  instead  of  reliable  chronicle.  Doubtless 


DEALING   WITH   THE    NEGRO-QUESTION.  137 

future  generations  will  find  it  impossible  to  fully 
credit  it.  The  history  of  a  single  day  at  Gen.  But 
ler's  headquarters  will  give  some  definite  idea  of  the 
amount  of  work  and  the  variety  and  multiplicity  of 
duties  which  pressed  upon  him. 

We  quote  from  Parton's  "  Butler  in  New  Orleans  :  " 

"  From  eight  to  nine  he  received  at  his  residence  ladies  who 
had  business  with  him.  At  nine  he  drove  to  his  office,  where 
six  mounted  orderlies  and  as  many  clerks  awaited  his  orders ; 
and  from  one  to  two  hundred  people  were  assembled  in  the 
ante-room,  anxious  to  give  information,  make  complaints,  or  ask 
favors.  Being  seated  in  his  chair,  beside  a  broad  table  on 
which  lay  a  pistol  within  easy  reach,  to  protect  himself  from 
assassination,  which  was  constantly  threatened,  the  heads  of  de 
partments  were  admitted.  Then  the  Relief  Commission  and  the 
Labor  Commission.  Next  foreign  consuls,  bank-directors,  and 
other  persons  of  importance.  Then  the  public  were  admitted, 
thirty  at  a  time,  and  ranged  in  a  semicircle  before  him.  Begin 
ning  at  one  end  of  the  line,  he  would  ask,  — 

"  '  What  do  you  want  ?  ' 

"  They  wanted  every  thing  that  creature  ever  wanted,  —  a  pass 
to  go  beyond  the  lines,  an  order  on  the  Relief  Committee  for 
food,  protection  against  a  hard  landlord,  a  permit  to  search  for 
a  slave,  aid  to  recover  a  debt,  the  arbitration  of  a  dispute,  pay 
ment  of  a  clayn  against  the  Government,  the  restoration  of  for 
feited  property,  the  suppression  of  a  nuisance,  employment  in 
some  public  office,  a  gift  of  money,  information  on  points  of 
law,  protection  against  cruel  masters.  Others  came  to  give  in 
formation,  or  to  wreak  revenge  by  denouncing  a  private  foe  as 
a  public  enemy.  A  few  short,  sharp,  incisive  questions,  and 
then  the  decision,  clear  as  yes  or  no  could  make  it,  and  not 
another  word  to  be  said.  Every  one  got  an  answer,  and  the 
answer  was  generally  right.  Under  the  general's  cross-ques 
tioning  all  subterfuges  and  evasions  melted  away,  and  the  truth 
stood  out  clear  and  unmistakable. 


138  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

"  At  eleven  o'clock  the  letters  were  placed  upon  his  table,  to 
the  number  of  eighty  to  one  hundred.  He  read  each  one,  and 
disposed  of  them  by  indorsing  short  sentences  upon  the  back, 
when  they  were  handed  to  the  clerks  to  be  answered  in  accord 
ance  with  the  general's  notes  inscribed  upon  them.  Others 
were  laid  aside  for  further  consideration  or  personal  answer. 
Military  business  was  next  in  order,  after  which  lunch  was 
served.  Then,  till  dinner  at  half-past  four  or  five,  writing  re 
ports  and  letters  filled  up  the  time.  From  half-past  five  till 
dark,  he  was  on  horseback,  reviewing  regiments,  visiting 
posts,  &c.  Then  home  to  his  private  office,  where  he  wrote 
or  dictated  letters  till  ten.  Dismissing  his  tired  scribes,  he 
finished  the  day's  work  by  writing  his  private  letters  and  de 
spatches." 

He  kept  his  work  up,  —  never  put  off  till  to-morrow 
what  should  be  done  to-day.  Letters  from  persons 
at  home,  whose  sons  or  husbands  were  in  his  army, 
and  who  had  ceased  to  write,  were  always  promptly 
answered,  giving  the  fullest  information  that  could 
be  obtained.  It  is  a  conceded  fact,  that  no  man  ever 
commanded  an  army  who  took  more  kindly  and 
watchful  interest  in  his  soldiers  than  Gen.  Butler 
during  or  since  the  war. 

The  first  and  most  obvious  duty  of  Gen.  Butler 
was  to  hold  New  Orleans ;  and  he  felt  confident  of 
his  ability  to  do  this  with  his  present  force.  But  he 
desired  to  do  more,  and  he  did  do  a  great  deal  more ; 
and,  if  the  re-enforcements  he  repeatedly  asked  for  had 
been  furnished,  he  would  have  captured  Port  Hudson 
and  Vicksburg,  and  opened  the  Mississippi  River,  and 
thus  saved  the  immense  loss  of  life  and  treasure  which 
was  spent  in  their  reduction  a  year  later,  after  they 
had  been  so  thoroughly  fortified  and  manned. 


DEALING   WITH   THE   NEGRO-QUESTION.  139 

He  kept  numerous  small  detachments  of  his  army 
active  in  various  parts  of  Louisiana,  capturing  small 
posts  of  the  enemy,  and  subduing  guerrillas.  The 
achievements  of  these  detachments  were  of  the  most 
daring  a^id  brilliant  character,  but  the  limits  of  our 
work  forbid  detail. 

The  gallant  repulse  of  Gen.  Breckenridge  and  the 
destruction  of  the  ram  "Arkansas"  at  Baton  Rouge, 
on  the  5th  of  August,  was  one  of  the  most  notable 
victories  of  the  war.  It  was  here  that  the  gallant 
Gen.  Williams  fell.  This  brave  man  was  everywhere 
in  the  hottest  of  the  fight  until  near  the  end,  when, 
coming  to  a  regiment  of  Indiana  troops  which  had 
lost  all  its  field-officers,  he  took  command  of  it  him 
self,  and  fell  mortally  wounded  while  leading  the 
brave  Hoosiers  to  a  charge.  / 

GENERAL  BUTLER  IS  SUPERSEDED. 

On  the  Qth  of  November  the  Secretary  of  War 
assigned  Gen.  Banks  to  the  command  of  the  Depart 
ment  of  the  Gulf,  including  the  State  of  Texas ;  and 
on  the  1 6th  of  December  Gen.  Butler  surrendered 
the  command  to  his  successor.  Why  Gen.  Butler 
was  relieved,  has  never  been  fully  known  to  him 
self  or  the  people.  Secretary  Stanton  and  President 
Lincoln  assured  him  that  it  was  not  on  account  of 
any  waning  confidence  in  him  as  a  man  of  honor,  or 
his  ability  as  a  general.  A  firm  conviction  rests  in 
the  minds  of  the  general,  and  the  friends  of  the 
Union,  that  Secretary  Seward  procured  his  recall,  to 
placate  the  foreign  ministers  who  secretly  sympa- 


I4O  LIFE   OF   BENJAMIN   F.   BUTLER. 

thized  with  the  rebels,  and  objected  to  his  vigorous 
mode  of  suppressing  treason. 

That  it  was  a  great  wrong  to  Gen.  Butler,  and  a 
still  greater  misfortune  to  the  Union  cause,  is  no 
longer  a  debatable  question.  He  had  captured  New 
Orleans  with  fifteen  thousand  troops,  against  the 
opinion  of  Gen.  McClellan,  who  said  it  would  require 
fifty  thousand.  He  had  held  it  in  spite  of  the  efforts 
of  Breckenridge,  Lovell,  and  Jeff  Thompson  to  re 
take  it,  though  their  forces  outnumbered  his,  proba 
bly  five  to  one.  What  he  did  for  New  Orleans  and 
Louisiana  has  already  been  recorded  here,  and  is  a 
part  of  the  imperishable  history  of  this  country. 
The  following  from  his  farewell  address  to  the  citi 
zens  of  New  Orleans  will  serve  as  a  brief  summary 
of  his  career  in  that  city.  He  said, — 

"  CITIZENS  OF  NEW  ORLEANS,  —  I  speak  not  in  bitterness. 
I  have  no  personal  animosity.  I  found  you  captured  but  not 
surrendered;  conquered  but  not  orderly;  relieved  from  the 
presence  of  an  army,  but  incapable  of  taking  care  of  yourselves. 
I  restored  order,  punished  crime,  opened  commerce,  brought 
provisions  to  your  starving  people,  reformed  your  currency, 
and  gave  you  quiet  protection  such  as  you  had  not  enjoyed  for 
many  years. 

"  The  enemies  of  my  country,  unrepentant  and  implacable, 
I  have  treated  with  merited  severity.  I  hold  that  rebellion  is 
treason,  and  treason  persisted  in  is  death.  Upon  this  thesis 
have  I  administered  the  authority  of  the  United  States.  I 
have  not  been  too  harsh.  I  might  have  smoked  you  to  death 
in  caverns  as  were  the  Covenanters  of  Scotland  by  a  royal 
British  general,  or  roasted  you  like  the  people  of  Algiers  were 
roasted  by  the  French ;  your  wives  and  daughters  might  have 
been  given  over  to  the  ravisher  as  were  the  women  of  Spain  in 


DEALING   WITH    THE    NEGRO-QUESTION.  14! 

the  Peninsular  war,  and  your  property  turned  over  to  indis 
criminate  plunder  like  that  of  the  Chinese  when  the  English 
captured  their  capital ;  you  might  have  been  blown  from  the 
mouths  of  cannons  as  were  .the  sepoys  of  Delhi, — and  yet  kept 
within  the  rules  of  civilized  war  as  practised  by  the  most  pol 
ished  and  hypocritical  nations  of  Europe. 

"  But  I  have  not  so  done.  The  worst  punishment  inflicted, 
except  for  crimes  punishable  by  any  law,  has  been  banishment 
with  labor.  It  is  true,  I  have  lived  upon  the  wealthy  rebels, 
and  paid  out  nearly  half  a  million  of  dollars  to  feed  forty  thou 
sand  starving  people  of  all  nations,  assembled  here,  made  so  by 
this  war. 

"  I  saw  that  this  rebellion  was  a  war  of  the  aristocrats 
against  the  masses,  of  the  rich  against  the  poor;  that  it  was 
a  struggle  for  the  retention  of  power  in  the  hands  of  the 
few  against  the  many  ;  and  I  found  no  conclusion  to  it,  save 
in  the  subjugation  of  the  few  and  the  disinthralment  of  the 
many. 

"  I  therefore  felt  no  hesitation  in  taking  the  substance  of  the 
rich  who  caused  the  war,  to  feed  the  poor  who  suffered  by  it. 
And  I  leave  you  with  the  proud  consciousness  that  I  carry  with 
me  the  blessing  of  the  humble  and  the  loyal,  in  the  cottage  of 
the  free  and  the  cabin  of  the  slave. 

"  I  have  demonstrated  that  the  yellow-fever  can  be  kept 
from  your  borders. 

"  I  have  given  you  freedom  of  the  elections  greater  than 
you  have  ever  enjoyed  before. 

"  I  have  caused  justice  to  be  admini'stered  so  impartially 
that  your  own  advocates  have  unanimously  complimented  the 
judges  of  rny  appointment. 

"  You  have  seen,  therefore,  the  benefit  of  the  laws  and  jus 
tice  of  the  Government  against  which  you  have  rebelled.  Why, 
then,  will  you  not  all  return  to  that  Government,  —  not  with  lip- 
service,  but  with  the  heart  ? 

"  If  you  desire  to  leave  to  your  children  the  inheritance  you 
received  from  your  fathers,  —  a  stable  constitutional  govern 
ment,  —  if  you  desire  that  they  shall  in  the  future  be  a  portion 


142  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

of  the  greatest  empire  the  sun  ever  shone  upon,  return  to  your 
allegiance. 

"  There  is  but  one  thing  that  stands  between  you  and  tha 
Government,  and  that  is  slavery.  The  institution,  cursed  of 
God,  which  has  taken  its  last  refuge  here,  in  his  providence 
will  be  rooted  out,  as  the  tares  from  the  wheat,  though  the 
wheat  be  torn  up  with  it. 

"  I  have  given  much  thought  to  this  subject. 

"  Months  of  experience  and  observation  have  forced  the  con 
clusion  that  the  existence  of  slavery  is  incompatible  with  the 
safety  of  either  yourselves  or  the  Union.  .  .  . 

"  I  am  speaking  the  farewell  words  of  one  who  has  shown 
his  devotion  to  his  country  at  the  peril  of  his  life  and  fortune, 
who  in  these  words  can  have  no  interest  nor  hope,  save  the 
good  of  those  whom  he  addresses  ;  and  let  me  here  repeat,  with 
all  the  solemnity  of  an  appeal  to  Heaven  to  bear  me  witness, 
that  such  are  the  views  forced  upon  me  by  experience. 

"  Come,  then,  to  the  unconditional  support  of  the  Govern 
ment.  Take  your  own  institutions  into  your  own  hands ;  re 
model  them  according  to  the  laws  of  nations  and  of  God,  and 
thus  attain  that  great  prosperity  assured  to  you  by  geographical 
position,  only  a  portion  of  which  was  heretofore  yours." 

Gen.  Butler's  policy  and  career  are  completely  vin 
dicated  by  the  fact  that  his  successor  was  compelled 
to  adopt  it,  after  finding  his  own  a  complete  failure. 
Gen.  Banks  soon  learned  that  his  efforts  at  concilia 
tion  brought  him  into  contempt  with  the  rebels,  who 
attributed  it  to  cowardice.  They  hated  Butler,  but 
they  feared  and  respected  him.  Had  he  been  less 
severe,  they  would  have  despised  and  defied  him. 

Gen.  Butler  sailed  from  New  Orleans  for  home  in 
an  unarmed  transport,  amid  the  boom  of  cannon  and 
the  shouts  of  a  multitude  of  citizens  and  soldiers, 
who  crowded  the  wharves  to  see  him  embark. 


DEALING   WITH   THE    NEGRO-QUESTION.  143 

At  Washington  he  was  treated  with  every  mark 
of  respect  by  the  President  and  heads  of  departments, 
and  by  the  people.  And  from  that  city  to  his  home 
at  Lowell,  his  journey  was  interrupted  at  each  im 
portant  place  by  ovations  such  as  only  great  con 
querors  or  great  public  benefactors  receive.  All  the 
leading  men  of  New  York  City,  without  regard  to 
party,  joined  in  tendering  him  a  public  reception,  at 
which  Mayor  Opdyke  presided,  and  Gen.  Wool  and 
Senator  Morgan  made  speeches  full  of  eulogy  to  the 
distinguished  guest  of  the  city.  Gen.  Butler  de 
livered,  on  that  occasion,  a  speech  of  wonderful 
power,  in  defence  of  the  Union  and  in  review  of  his 
career,  which  was  received  with  unbounded  enthusi 
asm  by  the  immense  crowd  of  ladies  and  gentlemen 
who  filled  the  Academy  of  Music. 


144  LIFE   OF    BENJAMIN    F.   BUTLER. 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

GEN.  BUTLER  TAKES  COMMAND  OF  THE  ARMY  OF  THE 
JAMES. HIS  CAREER  BEFORE  RICHMOND. 

GEN.  BUTLER  arrived  from  New  Orleans  on 
the  ist  of  January,  1863.  Before  he  left  the 
steamer,  he  received  an  autograph  letter  from  Presi 
dent  Lincoln,  asking  him  to  come  to  Washington  as 
soon  as  he  had  visited  his  familyat  Lowell.  Having 
his  wife  with  him,  the  general  repaired  to  Washing 
ton  at  once,  and  called  upon  the  President.  He 
informed  him  that  he  was  very  desirous  of  having 
enough  negro  troops  recruited  to  hold  the  Mississippi 
Valley,  so  as  to  relieve  the  white  forces  then  operat 
ing  there.  Gen.  Butler  said,  "  If  you  will  send  me 
back  to  New  Orleans  in  command  of  the  Department 
of  the  Gulf,  I  will  recruit  all  the  colored  troops  you 
want."  But,  after  having  been  relieved  of  that  com 
mand  without  cause,  he  could  not  return  as  a  sub 
ordinate.  The  President  replied,  "You  were  not 
causelessly  recalled  from  New  Orleans,  although  the 
reason  for  it  does  not  reflect  upon  your  honor  as  a 
man,  or  ability  as  an  officer."  The  French  minister 
had  demanded  his  withdrawal,  saying  that,  if  it  was 


TAKES  COMMAND  OF  THE  ARMY  OF  THE  JAMES.  145 

not  done,  his  Government  would  probably  recognize 
the  independence  of  the  Confederate  States. 

He  then  asked  him  if  he  would  be  satisfied  with 
the  command  of  Grant's  army  on  the  Mississippi. 
No,  he  replied ;  for  that  would  be  unjust  to  Gen. 
Grant,  of  whom  he  had  heard  only  good  reports ; 
and,  besides,  it  would*- create  jealousy  against  him  in 
the  army.  "Then,"  said  the  President,  "we  shall 
find  a  place  for  you  directly.  In  the  mean  time,  go 
home,  and  rest." 

During  the  next  few  months  Gen.  Butler  was 
actively  but  variously  employed,  under  direction  of 
the  President ;  and  in  June  the  matter  of  his  taking 
command  of  the  army  of  Tennessee  was  quite  ex 
tensively  discussed,  the  President  thinking  him  the 
man  to  cut  the  Confederacy  in  two,  by  marching 
through  to  Savannah,  as  Gen.  Sherman  afterwards 
did.  The  committee  on  the  conduct  of  the  war  sent 
Hon.  Stephen  M.  Allen  to  consult  Gen.  Butler  on 
the  subject ;  but  the  project  was  abandoned  for  the 
time,  because  of  the  threatened  invasion  of  the  North 
by  Gen.  Lee.  The  following  letter  of  Hon.  Stephen 
M.  Allen  to  the  committee  on  the  conduct  of  the  war 
describes  an  interview  with  Gen.  Butler:  — 

BOSTON,  Jan.  20,  1863. 

But  he  thinks  a  glorious  thing  could  be  done  by  taking  seventy- 
five  thousand  men,  which  could  be  spared  from  the  Potomac 
and  Washington  (doing  nothing  there  but  keeping  rebels  off), 
and  starting  from  Fort  Monroe,  and  landing  near  Charleston, 
which  he  thinks  could  be  done  sooner  than  any  army  could  be 
transported  to  their  aid,  and  then  take  Charleston,  which  could  be 


146  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

done  without  difficulty,  pass  up  through  the  highlands  of  Georgia, 
where  it  is  healthy,  cut  the  rebels  in  two  latitudinally,  and  thus 
establishing  a  line  of  communication  with  our  western  army. 

S.  M.  ALLEN. 

In  November,  1863,  Gen.  Butler  was  ordered  to 
relieve  Gen.  Foster,  and  take  command  of  the  de 
partment  of  Virginia  and  North  Carolina,  with  in 
structions  to  make  preparations  for  an  early  spring 
movement  upon  Richmond.  His  first  work  was  to 
recruit  a  large  number  of  negro  troops ;  and  now, 
as  all  the  colored  troops  recruited  in  the  North  and 
in  Maryland  were  sent  to  him,  he  soon  had  quite  a 
large  negro  force,  which  he  equipped  and  drilled. 

About  the  ist  of  February,  1864,  he  learned  that 
the  Confederate  forces  had  chiefly  been  withdrawn 
from  Richmond  ;  and  he  planned  an  expedition,  under 
Gen.  Wistar,  to  make  a  raid  upon  Richmond,  with  a 
view  to  the  capture  of  the  Confederate  Government. 
He  desired  particularly  to  get  Jefferson  Davis  into 
his  hands,  as  a  prisoner,  with  a  view  to  asking  him 
to  revise  a  certain  proclamation  he  had  made  in 
regard  to  the  general,  after  his  recall  from  New 
Odeans. 

The  expedition  failed  through  the  treachery  of  a 
Union  soldier,  who  deserted  to  the  rebels,  and  put 
them  on  their  guard,  thus  preventing  a  surprise  at 
Bottom's  Bridge,  across  the  Chickahominy,  upon 
which  the  whole  matte*  depended. 

On  the  ist  of  April,  Gen.  Grant  having  been 
assigned  to  the  command  of  the  armies  of  the  United 


TAKES  COMMAND  OF  THE  ARMY  OF  THE  JAMES.  147 

States,  with  headquarters  at  Washington,  visited 
Gen.  Butler  at  Fortress  Monroe,  for  the  purpose  of 
conferring  with  him  in  regard  to  a  plan  for  a  cam 
paign  against  Richmond.  *  The  plan  agreed  upon  at 
that  conference  was  substantially  as  follows ;  and  it 
was  Gen.  Butler's  plan,  Gen.  Grant  seeing  the  wis 
dom  of  it,  and  adopting  it.  — 

To  capture  City  Point,  and  the  peninsula  of  Ber 
muda  Hundreds,  between  the  rivers  Appomattox, 
and  James,  as  a  base  of  operations  and  supplies 
against  Richmond.  Our  navy  being  superior  to  that 
of  the  rebels,  it  could  hold  both  rivers  as  high  up  as 
Aikin's  Landing,  eight  miles  from  Richmond.  There 
was  a  deep,  impassable  ravine  running  nearly  half 
across  the  neck  of  the  peninsula  toward  the  Appomat 
tox,  which  was  almost  met  by  another  ravine  from 
this  river,  having  about  one  mile  and  a  half  of  high 
ground  between  them,  which  should  be  fortified  and 
made  as  impregnabft!  as  Fortress  Monroe,  thus  secur 
ing  for  the  Union  army  a  foothold  within  eight  miles 
of  the  rebel  capital,  from  which  it  could  not  be  driven. 

It  was  agreed,  that,  as  soon  as  the  roads  should  be 
settled,  Gen.  Butler  should  march  his  army,  re-en 
forced  by  the  Tenth  Corps,  Gen.  Gilmore  command 
ing,  by  boats  up  the  James  River,  seize  the  peninsula 
of  Bermuda  Hundreds,  and  store  supplies  and  provis 
ions  for  both  his  own  and  Grant's  armies,  and  fortify 
according  to  his  plan.  It  was  agreed  that  the  move 
ments  should  be  so  timed,  that,  after  landing  at  Ber 
muda  Hundreds,  Gen.  Butler  should  make  a  demon 
stration  upon  Petersburg,  as  though  that  were  the 


148  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

object  of  the  expedition;  and  that  within  ten  days 
he  should  deploy  the  bulk  of  his  army  around  Rich 
mond,  enclosing  it  by  the  line  of  its  outer  fortifica 
tions,  the  left  of  the  army -striking  the  James  River 
above.  That  at  the  same  time  Gen.  Grant,  crossing 
the  Rapidan  with  his  army,  should  march  by  the 
right  flank,  drive  Lee's  army  before  him,  if  possible 
striking  the  James  River  above  Richmond,  form  a 
junction  with  Butler,  and  scoop  the  capital  out  of  the 
Confederacy. 

Gen.  Butler  made  the  most  energetic  preparations. 
Transportation  sufficient  to  move  thirty  thousand 
troops,  with  their  artillery,  horses,  and  baggage,  and 
provisions  for  one  hundred  thousand  troops  for  ninety 
days,  were  procured.  Preceded  by  the  navy,  he  was 
to  advance  up  the  river,  and  seize  City  Point  and 
Bermuda  Hundreds,  leave  a  force  sufficient  to  begin 
a  line  of  defensive  fortifications,  and  to  hold  it  in 
case  of  disaster.  With  the  rest  of  the  army  he  was 
to  put  himself  below  Richmond,  surrounding  it  from 
below  and  above  on  the  south,  where  Gen.  Grant  was 
to  meet  him  in  ten  days  from  the  sailing  of  his  expe 
dition,  if  possible,  which  was  to  be  at  the  same 
moment  Gen.  Grant  crossed  the  Rapidan. 

On  the  4th  of  May,  Gen.  Butler  received  a  tele 
gram  from  Gen.  Grant  in  regard  to  his  movements ; 
and  that  night  he  commenced  his,  having  diverted 
the  attention  of  the  enemy  by  a  demonstration  at 
West  Point,  at  the  head  of  York  River,  leading  them 
to  believe  that  was  the  point  at  which  the  two 
armies  meant  to  form  a  junction, — which  ruse  sue- 


TAKES  COMMAND  OF  THE  ARMY  OF  THE  JAMES.  149 

ceeded  entirely  in  deceiving  the  rebel  commanders. 
On  the  morning  of  the  5th,  Butler's  army  sailed  up 
the  James,  preceded  by  the  navy,  and  at  five  o'clock 
arrived  at  City  Point  and  Bermuda  Hundreds,  seizing 
the  only  two  salient  points  on  the  river  below,  and 
which  were  afterwards  fortified  and  held  as  Forts 
Powhatan  and  Pocahontas.  Ten  thousand  troops 
were  landed  at  Bermuda  Hundreds,  at  eight  o'clock 
in  the  evening,  while  his  negro  cavalry,  two  thousand 
strong  on  the  Richmond  side  of  the  James,  were 
marching  across  the  Chickahominy  to  join  him  at 
Turkey  Bend,  opposite  City  Point,  while  Gen. 
Kautz,  in  command  of  the  white  division  of  cavalry, 
marched  from  below  Norfolk  at  the  same  time, 
with  instructions  to  cut  the  Weldon  Railroad,  de 
stroy  the  bridges,  and  then  join  Gen.  Butler  at 
City  Point,  on  the  Petersburg  side  of  the  river. 
Learning  from  one  of  his  secret-service  men,  just 
returned  from  Richmond,  that  there  was  no  consid 
erable  force  in  that  city,  and  being  within  twelve 
marching  miles  of  it,  he  desired  to  change  his  plan 
so  far  as  to  send  a  flying  column  of  ten  thousand 
men  to  capture  the  city  that  night.  But  his  corps 
commanders  opposed  'it,  not  one  of  them  being  will 
ing  to  take  command  of  the  expedition.  Gen.  Butler 
believed  then,  and  still  believes,  tflat  Richmond  could 
easily  have  been  captured  that  night ;  and  the  only 
reason  he  did  not  take  command  of  the  expedition 
personally  was  that  he  could  not  trust  the  details  of 
the  expedition  which  he  was  managing  in  other 
hands.  Kautz  and  Cole,  with  their  cavalry,  were 


I5O  LIFE   OF   BENJAMIN    F.   BUTLER. 

out  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  enemy,  and  might 
require  assistance  at  any  moment.  He  urged  the 
command  upon  Smith,  then  upon  Gilmore,  and  finally 
offered  it  to  his  chief  engineer  Gen.  Weitzel ;  but 
they  each  declined  in  turn,  though  Weitzel  agreed 
with  Gen.  Butler  that  the  plan  was  entirely  feasible, 
and  would  probably  succeed  if  attempted. 

Gen.  Butler  thinks  that  army  etiquette  alone  de 
terred  Weitzel  from  accepting  command  of  the  expe 
dition,  after  it  had  been  declined  by  his  superior 
officers.  On  the  following  day  fortifications  were 
commenced  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Appomattox,  four 
miles  from  Petersburg,  and  also  on  the  right  bank  of 
the  James.  The  general  then  made  a  demonstration 
upon  Petersburg,  and  fought  the  battle  of  Swift  Creek, 
with  the  apparent  intention  of  crossing  it  to  capture 
the  city ;  but,  as  soon  as  he  thought  his  works  strong 
enough  to  justify  it,  he  moved  upon  Richmond  with 
his  whole  force,  except  two  brigades,  which  were  left 
on  the  Petersburg  and  Richmond  turnpike,  to  hold  the 
rear  in  case  of  an  advance  of  troops  from  Petersburg. 
He  drove  the  outposts  of  the  enemy,  and  captured 
his  outer  line  of  fortifications,  below  Fort  Darling; 
and  on  the  I5th  of  May  he  was  investing  Richmond 
on  the  south.  His  left  wing  was  within  a  mile  and  a 
half  of  the  river  above  the  city,  and  his  right  rested 
on  the  river  below.  This  was  his  position,  when 
Gen.  Sheridan  came  to  his  headquarters,  and  in 
formed  him  of  the  battle  of  the  Wilderness,  and  that 
Gen.  Grant,  instead  of  marching  by  his  right  flank  to 
strike  the  James  River  above  Richmond,  and  thus 


TAKES    COMMAND    OF   THE   ARMY    OF   THE  JAMES.    151 

form  a  junction  with  him,  was  marching  by  his  left 
flank  toward  Cold  Harbor,  and  that  Grant's  cavalry* 
forces  were  then  at  Turkey  Bend,  awaiting  forage 
and  provisions. 

Seeing  that,  owing  to  the  disaster  of  the  battle  of 
the  Wilderness,  the  original  plan  had  to  be  aban 
doned,  that  Grant  was  going  to  City  Point,  and 
learning  that  Beauregard  was  now  in  Richmond,  and 
that  a  large  number  of  troops  were  coming  up  from 
North  and  South  Carolina,  and  evidently  having  no 
further  business  around  Richmond,  Gen.  Butler  re 
tired  within  his  lines  at  Bermuda  Hundreds,  and 
proceeded  to  carry  out  the  other  part  of  his  instruc 
tions,  by  making  the  fortifications  complete  and 
strong.  Before  that  was  done,  however,  Beauregard 
came  down  with  a  large  force,  and  made  a  vigorous 
attack  upon  his  lines,  but  was  gallantly  repulsed. 
In  speaking  of  this,  Gen.  Butler  says,  — 

"  If  I  had  known  Beauregard's  force  then  as  I  do  now,  I 
should  have  allowed  him  to  come  in,  and  then  dealt  with  him 
after  he  got  there.  But,  as  it  was,  we  repulsed  him,  and  con 
tinued  the  line  of  fortifications ;  and,  within  ten  days  more,  had 
a  line  that  was  not  and  could  not  be  carried,  if  defended  by  ten 
thousand  men,  by  any  army  of  the  Confederacy." 

Meanwhile,  finding  that  Petersburg  had  been  left 
undefended,  Gen.  Butler  drew  out  a  column  of  eleven 
thousand  men  from  the  Eighteenth  Corps,  to  attack 
that  place.  This  force  was  to  march  for  that  pur 
pose  on  the  second  day.  It  was  only  four  miles ; 
but  that  night  an  order  arrived  from  Gen.  Grant,  for 


152  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

all  the  available  forces  to  be  sent  at  once  to  West 
Point,  to  re-enforce  him  ;  and  this  column  of  eleven 
thousand  men  were  sent  forward,  in  obedience  to 
that  order.  Believing  his  lines  defensible  by  a  small 
force,  against  any  force  the  enemy  could  send  against 
them,  Gen.  Butler  ordered  Gen.  Kautz,  with  his  cav 
alry,  to  go  around  and  assault  Petersburg  on  the 
south ;  and  Gen.  Gilmore  was  ordered  to  assault  it 
on  the  north  side.  Kautz  obeyed  orders,  absolutely 
riding  over  the  fortifications  into  the  city  ;  but  Gil- 
more  failed  to  do  his  part,  and  returned  without 
making  an  attack,  —  the  reason  for  which  has  not 
been  satisfactorily  given.  He  professed  to  have 
learned  that  there  was  a  large  force  in  the  city ;  but 
it  was  subsequently  ascertained  that  it  was  defended 
only  by  four  companies  of  old  men  and  boys.  This 
is  the  same  Gen.  Gilmore  who  declined  to  march, 
into  Richmond  on  the  5th  of  May  at  the  command 
of  Gen.  Butler,  not  because  he  was  afraid  to  do  so, 
but  chiefly,  it  is  supposed,  to  prevent  Gen.  Butler, 
a  citizen-general,  from  achieving  that  fame  which 
was  justly  due  to  him  for  his  wisdom  in  planning 
campaigns,  and  his  promptness  and  energy  in  exe- 
.cuting  his  plans  when  not  thwarted  by  insubordina 
tion  on  the  part  of  corps  and  division  commanders, 
who,  because  they  had  been  to  West  Point,  thought 
it  an  outrage  on  them  to  be  placed  under  a  man  of 
brains  who  had  not  received  a  military  education 
there.  This  was  the  true  reason  why  Gen.  Butler 
failed  to  capture  Richmond  on  the  night  of  the  5th 
of  May,  1864. 


TAKES  COMMAND  OF  THE  ARMY  OF  THE  JAMES.  153 

The  battle  of  Cold  Harbor  was  fought  by  Gen. 
Grant,  on  the  2d  and  3d  of  June ;  and  here  over  five 
thousand  of  the  eleven  thousand  brave  men  sent  to 
him  by  Gen.  Butler  were  lost,  in  killed  and  wounded. 
The  remnant  returned,  and  reported  that  Grant  was 
marching  to  join  Butler  at  City  Point,  and  desired 
that  preparations  be  made  for  his  crossing  the  river 
at  Fort  Powhatan  ;  which  was  done. 

As  soon  as  the  returned  army  was  rested,  Gen. 
Butler  sent  Gen.  Smith  and  Gen.  Hinks,  the  latter 
in  command  of  the  colored  troops,  to  make  another 
attack  upon  Petersburg,  which  attack  was  ordered  to 
be  made  at  sunrise ;  but,  although  the  distance  to 
march  was  only  four  miles,  it  was  not  made  until  near 
sunset,  yet  it  was  successful ;  the  defences  were  all 
carried.  But,  as  night  set  in,  Smith  concluded  to 
wait  for  re-enforcements  from  Grant's  army ;  and, 
while  waiting  for  Hancock's  corps  to  re-enforce  him, 
Petersburg  was  re-enforced  by  a  portion  of  Lee's 
army,  who  marched  in  on  the  other  side,  —  on  learn 
ing  which,  he  held  the  lines  with  his  forces,  leaving 
the  enemy  in  possession  of  Petersburg,  which  had 
easily  been  his,  had  he  obeyed  the  orders  of  Gen. 
Butler,  and  made  the  attack  early  in  the  morning. 
Indeed,  he  could  have  occupied  and  held  it,  had  he 
gone  in  that  night,  instead  of  waiting  for  Hancock. 
It  is  a  matter  of  history,  that  no  troops  ever  got 
nearer  Petersburg,  until  the  final  capture,  than  did 
the  colored  troops  under  Gen.  Hinks,  and  the  white 
soldiers  under  Gen.  Smith,  on  that  occasion. 

After  the  disaster  of  the  mine  in  front  of  Peters- 


154  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

burg,  in  which  the  army  of  the  James  had  no  part, 
Gen.  Butler  obtained  leave  from  Gen.  Grant  to  cross 
the  James  River  at  Deep  Bottom,  on  the  side  next 
to  Richmond,  and  afterwards  to  occupy  as  far  up  as 
Aiken's  Landing,  including  Dutch  Gap  and  the  forti 
fications  of  the  enemy  near  that,  which  was  success 
fully  done;  and  the  ironclads  were  moved  up  just 
below  Trent's  Beach,  but  could  go  no  farther,  be 
cause  the  Howlett  House  battery  of  the  rebels  com 
manded  Trent's  Beach,  and  because  the  water  was 
not  sufficiently  deep  to  float  a  vessel  of  more  than 
seven  feet  of  draft,  and  the  ironclads  drew  sixteen. 
Gen.  Butler  saw  that  in  any  further  approaches 
toward  Richmond,  or  attacks  on  the  forts  surround 
ing  it,  he  could  have  no  aid  from  the  navy,  unless 
this  obstacle  at  Trent's  Beach  could  be  overcome. 
The  beach  is  in  the  shape  of  a  horseshoe,  and  seven 
miles  around ;  and  at  the  head  the  river  bends  in  at 
Dutch  Gap,  so  as  to  be  only  about  four  hundred  and 
thirty  to  forty  feet  across.  Under  these  circum 
stances,  seeing  the  necessity  of  the  navy  getting 
through  there,  he  took  Gen.  Grant  and  the  chief 
engineer  of  the  army  with  him  to  Dutch  Gap,  and, 
pointing  out  the  situation,  suggested  that  a  canal 
sixty  feet  wide,  and  sixteen  deep,  be  cut  through 
to  the  upper  James  River.  After  Gen.  Butler  had 
fully  explained  the  matter,  both  Gen.  Grant  and  his 
chief  engineer  approved  the  project,  and  Gen.  Butler 
was  ordered  to  proceed  with  it  He  did  proceed 
with  the  Dutch  Gap  canal,  until  it  was  nearly  com 
pleted ;  indeed,  but  thirty  feet  remained  to  be  cut, 


TAKES  COMMAND  OF  THE  ARMY  OF  THE  JAMES.  1 55 

to  reach  twenty-five  feet  water,  and  enable  our  navy 
to  sail  within  four  miles  of  Richmond  ;  and  over  this 
thirty  feet,  between  two  and  three  feet  of  water  was 
running.  At  this  point,  the  officer  in  charge  of  the 
work  was  informed  that  the  naval  commander  did 
not  consider  his  force  strong  enough  to  hold  the 
river  against  the  rebel  gunboats.  Thus,  while  Gen. 
Butler  was  vigorously  opening  a  channel,  through 
which  he  might  sail  to  the  attack  of  the  rebel  fleet, 
this  brave  commodore  got  frightened  out  of  his  top- 
boots  at  the  possibility  that  the  rebels  might  take  it 
into  their  heads  to  avail  themselves  of  this  opening  to 
get  at  him.  Gen.  Butler  s'ays,  "  I  was  opening  the 
door,  to  let  the  dog  get  at  the  wolf;  but  was  ordered 
to  keep  it  shut,  lest  the  wolf  should  get  at  the  dog." 

This  is  the  secret,  and  the  whole  secret',  of  the 
failure  of  the  famous  Dutch  Gap  canal  project,  for 
which  Gen.  Butler  has  received  so  much  criticism 
from  the  newspapers,  against  which  he  could  not 
defend  himself,  had  he  been  disposed  to  do  so,  with 
out  a  violation  of  army  etiquette. 

Subsequently  the  rebel  vessels  did  come  down, 

and  chase  Commodore as  far  as  City  Point ; 

and  could  have  captured  him,  and  Grant's  head 
quarters,  had  they  known  their  strength  and  the 
cowardice  of  this  naval  poltroon.  One  of  the  rebel 
gunboats  got  aground,  and  the  others,  fearing  to 
proceed  without  it,  stopped  to  help  it  off  ;  which  cir 
cumstance  saved  the  capture  of  Grant's,  headquarters 
and  base  of  supplies  at  City  Point,  cutting  our  army 
in  two,  and  holding  command  of  the  river. 


LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

The  aforesaid  naval  commander  need  not  be  men 
tioned  here  by  name.  He  was  subsequently  court- 
martialed,  Commodore  Farragut  presiding,  on  the 
charge  of  cowardice  in  connection  with  this  expedi 
tion  ;  and  the  court  found  him  guilty.  Let  his  name 
sink  into  oblivion. 

Some  time  in  the  latter  part  of  August,  Gen. 
Grant  sent  two  expeditions,  under  command  of  two 
of  his  corps  commanders,  across  the  James  River, 
for  the  purpose  of  carrying  the  enemy's  fortifications 
at  Newmarket  Heights,  and  getting  possession  of  the 
outer  line  of  works  that  protected  Richmond.  Both 
expeditions  were  unsuccessful. 

In  September,  Gen.  Butler  asked  permission  of 
Gen.  Grant,  to  organize  an  expedition  with  two  corps 
of  white  and  colored  troops,  to  cross  the  James  River 
at  Deep  Bottom,  and  one,  the  colored  division  and 
a  part  of  the  Tenth  Corps,  to  make  an  attack  on 
the  fortifications  at  Newmarket  Heights,  and  the 
other  to  make  an  attack  on  Fort  Harrison,  a  short 
distance  above  Dutch  Gap,  on  the  Varina  turnpike, 
being  the  salient  point  of  the  whole  line  of  fortifica 
tions  of  Richmond  along  the  river,  and  a  very  strong 
work.  On  the  morning  of  the  2Qth  of  September, 
the  colored  division,  under  Gen.  Terry,  made  an  attack 
on  Newmarket  Heights,  and  took  them  after  a  gallant 
charge.  Then  the  entire  Tenth  Corps  attacked  the 
fortifications  on  the  Newmarket  road.  The  Eigh 
teenth  Corps,  under  Gen.  Ord,  crossing  at  Varina's 
Landing,  on  a  pontoon-bridge  ]aid  for  that  purpose, 
made  an  attack  at  daybreak  on  Fort  Harrison,  cap- 


TAKES    COMMAND    OF    THE    ARMY    OF    THE   JAMES.    I5/ 

tured  it,  and,  but  for  the  serious  wounding  of  Gen. 
Ord,  would  doubtless  have  proceeded  to  Richmond  at 
once,  as  Butler's  army  now  had  possession  of  the  en 
tire  line  of  fortifications  from  Fort  Harrison  around 
to  the  Newmarket  road,  being  the  outer  line  of  the 
defences  of  Richmond,  and  but  six  miles  from  the  city. 
This  success  so  alarmed  Gen.  Lee,  that  on  the  3Oth 
of  September  he  sent  two  of  his  very  best  divisions 
to  attack  Butler's  forces.  A  severe  battle  was  fought, 
resulting  in  a  brilliant  victory  for  the  army  of  the 
James.  The  loss  to  the  rebels  was  sixteen  battle- 
flags,  and  a  large  number  of  men,  chiefly  captured. 
It  is  worthy  of  mention,  that  from  that  day  to  the 
final  surrender  of  Richmond,  no  troops  ever  got 
nearer  the  city  than  did  the  colored  troops  of  But 
ler's  army  on  that  occasion ;  and  they  were  the  first 
to  enter  the  Confederate  capital  when  it  was  finally 
captured. 

During  the  summer  of  1864,  Gen.  Butler  not  only 
had  immediate  command  of  the  army  of  the  James, 
planning  and  conducting  all  its  campaigns,  but  he 
was' also  charged  by  the  government  with  the  task  of 
conducting  the  exchange  of  prisoners  between  the 
two  belligerent  powers,  a  most  laborious  duty ;  and, 
besides  all  this,  he  had  command  of  the  rebel  prison 
ers  at  Point  Lookout. 

A  personal  inspection  of  Wilmington  convinced 
Gen.  Butler  that  the  blockade  there  was  not  effective, 
and  that  it  cost  a  great  deal  of  money  to  keep  it  up. 
The  secretary  of  the  navy  was  very  anxious  that 
Fort  Fisher,  which  commanded  the  approaches  of  the 


158  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

Cape  Fear  River,  should  be  captured.  Fort  Fisher  is 
situated  on  a  sandy  promontory  running  out  into  the 
sea,  with  deep  water  very  close  to  it.  The  immense 
damage  done  by  an  explosion  of  gunpowder  at  Aln- 
wick,  England,  in  the  summer  of  1864,  suggested  to 
Gen.  Butler  the  possibility  of  blowing  up  Fort  Fisher 
by  that  agent.  He  wrote  to  the  secretary  of  the 
navy,  who  laid  the  matter  before  a  board  of  officers, 
who  approved  of  Gen.  Butler's  plan.  The  experiment 
was  attempted,  but  failed ;  and  the  newspapers  very 
largely  laid  the  blame  of  the  whole  matter  upon  Gen. 
Butler.  But  the  facts  are,  that  the  whole  matter  was 
left  to  the  navy,  who  utterly  failed  to  adopt  his  plans, 
or  profit  by  his  suggestions.  His  plan  was  to  put, 
say,  two  hundred  and  fifty  tons  of  gunpowder  into  a 
steamer,  with  fuses  of  a  certain  kind,  which  he  pro 
cured,  running  all  through  the  magazine  of  powder, 
so  as  to  explode  the  whole  of  it  at  once.  The  steamer 
was  to  be  run  immediately  under  the  fort,  where  the 
explosion  would  occur  in  a  certain  brief  period,  regu 
lated  by  clock-work. 

He  supplied  the  naval  officer  having  the  matter  in 
charge  with  the  proper  fuse ;  but  it  was  not  used. 
The  vessel  that  contained  the  powder,  instead  of 
being  run  ashore  under  the  walls  of  the  fort,  was 
anchored  more  than  half  a  mile  above  it,  beside  a 
sandy  beach  ;  and,  instead  of  the  powder  being  simul 
taneously  exploded  by  clock-work,  as  was  planned  by 
Gen.  Butler,  a  fire  was  simply  kindled  on  the  fore 
castle  of  the  vessel,  which,  when  it  burned  down  to 
the  powder,  exploded  a  small  portion  of  it,  and  blew 


TAKES  COMMAND  OF  THE  ARMY  OF  THE  JAMES.  159 

the  rest  into  the  sea,  where,  of  course,  it  never 
burned.  Thus  it  is  seen,  that  although  Gen.  Butler 
is  entitled  to  the  honor  of  having  suggested  a  plan 
for  blowing  up  Fort  Fisher,  and  a  plan  which  doubt 
less  would  have  succeeded,  his  plan  was  not  adopted. 
But  Admiral  Porter,  who  had  the  whole  matter  in 
charge,  under  direction  of  the  Naval  Office,  and  over 
whom  Gen.  Butler  had  no  control,  adopted  a  plan  of 
his  own,  which  proved  a  scandalous  failure. 

Porter  was  sanguine  of  success ;  and  so  fearful  of 
the  effect  of  the  explosion,  that  he  took  his  fleet 
eleven  miles  away,  as  a  measure  of  safety.  Gen. 
Butler  took  his  troops  down  to  Fort  Fisher ;  and, 
after  witnessing  the  bombardment  by  the  fleet,  which 
followed  the  explosion,  and  being  satisfied  that  the 
fort,  being  practically  uninjured,  could  be  taken  only 
by  a  sacrifice  of  life  too  great  to  be  justified  under  the 
circumstances,  when  all  that  could  be  gained  would 
be  to  stop  blockade-running,  while  Sherman  was  then 
marching  to  Savannah,  and  Fort  Fisher  and  all  must 
soon  fall,  he,  like  a  brave,  humane,  and  wise  com 
mander,  resisted  the  temptation  to  win  fame  at  the  sac 
rifice  of  his  soldiers,  and  marched  back  to  City  Point. 

Prior  to  this,  however,  in  November,  the  Secretary 
of  War  had  sent  Gen.  Butler  to  New  York  City  with 
a  portion  of  his  command,  with  orders  to  see  that 
no  disturbance  occurred  on  presidential-election  day. 
He  obeyed  this  order ;  and  for  once,  at  least,  New 
York  enjoyed  a  quiet  and  fair  election. 

After  he  was  relieved  from  command,  Fort  Fisher 
was  taken,  with  a  loss  of  about  eight  thousand  men 


I6O  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

killed  and  wounded ;  shortly  after  which,  it  fell  into 
the  hands  of  Gen.  Sherman,  just  as  it  would  have 
done,  without  any  loss  of  blood  or  life. 

The  author  will  close  the  history  of  Gen.  Butler's 
military  career  with  the  following  from  Gen.  Grant, 
as  given  to  a  correspondent  of  "The  New  York 
Herald,"  and  published  in  that' paper,  on  the  25th  of 
May,  1878:- 

"  As  it  was,  I  confronted  Lee,  and  held  him  and  all  his  hosts 
far  from  Richmond  and  the  James  ;  while  I  sent,  the  same  day 
of  my  advance  across  the  Rapidan,  a  force  by  the  James  River, 
sufficient,  as  I  thought,  to  have  captured  all  south  of  Richmond 
to  Petersburg,  and  hold  it.  I  believe  now,  that  if  Gen.  Butler 
had  had  two  corps  commanders  such  as  I  might  have  selected, 
had  I  known  the  material  of  the  entire  army  as  well  as  I  did 
afterwards,  he  would  have  done  so ;  and  would  have  threatened 
Richmond  itself,  so  as  materially  to  have  aided  me  farther 
north." 


GEN.    BUTLER   AS   A    FINANCIAL    REFORMER.          l6l 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

GEN.    BUTLER   AS   A    FINANCIAL    REFORMER. 

WE  have,  in  former  chapters,  considered  Gen. 
Butler's  career  as  a  lawyer,  a  politician,  a  sol 
dier,  and  an  executive  officer.  We  now  come  to  a 
consideration  of  his  record  as  a  statesman  and  politi 
cal  economist. 

Gen.  Butler  is  a  radical  conservative,  by  which  is 
meant  that  his  mind  not  only  traverses  the  gamut  of 
ideas,  from  the  basic  principles  to  the  ultimate,  but 
possesses  the  logical  power  to  grasp,  hold,  and  apply 
the  practical  deductions  of  all  propositions  of  truly 
philosophic  character. 

He  is,  therefore,  a  statesman  after  the  type  of 
Cuvier,  Franklin,  and  Jefferson,  the  three  greatest 
statesmen  and  most  profound  political  economists  of 
their  time,  and  all  of  whom  recognized  and  advocated 
the  fundamental  principles  of  the  financial  system  of 
which  Gen.  Butler  is  the  leading  representative  and 
most  prominent  advocate,  and  which  are  sustained  by 
the  leading  financial  writers  of  this  country  and 
Europe  still,  and  which  were  ably  set  forth  by  John 
C.  Calhoun  and  other  distinguished  foes  of  the  United 
States  Bank. 


1 62  LIFE    OF   BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

To  write  a  history  of  Gen.  Butler's  career  as  a 
financial  reformer,  is  to  present  the  chief  events  that 
have  culminated  in  the  formation  of  the  national 
party,  and  the  principles  upon  which  it  is  founded ; 
for  although  Thaddeus  Stevens,  as  chairman  of  the 
Ways  and  Means  Committee  in  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives  in  Congress,  reported  the  legal  tender 
greenback  bill  of  1862,  it  was  Gen.  Butler  who,  in 
January,  1869,  framed  the  first  bill  which  embodies 
the  principles  of  a  perfect  paper  money. 

The  greenback  is  a  government  note,  a  promise  to 
pay,  simply  a  substitute  for  bank-paper.  It  is  supe 
rior  .to  bank-paper  in  that  it  rests  upon  the  credit  of 
the  nation,  instead  of  depending  for  its  redemption 
upon  a  bank  corporation  :  hence  it  has  a  uniform 
value  throughout  the  whole  country.  It  is  true  that 
there  is  no  time  set  when  it  shall  be  redeemed,  nor 
any  specific  provision  for  its  redemption  in  coin  or 
any  other  form  of  money ;  but  the  fact  that  it  bears 
upon  its  face  the  promise  of  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  to  pay  the  bearer  the  amount  repre 
sented  by  the  bill  implies  a  time  when  it  shall  be 
paid,  and  furnishes  the  bullionists  an  excuse  for 
unsettling  the  currency  and  business  of  the  country 
by  constant  clamors  and  efforts  for  a  return  to  a 
specie  basis  and  a  redemption  of  the  greenback  in 
coin.  There  is  another  defect  in  the  greenback,  — a 
defect  for  which  Mr.  Stevens  was  not  responsible :  it 
is  not  a  legal  tender  in  the  payment  of  custom  dues, 
or  the  interest  on  the  public  debt,  which  fact  alone 
has  been  the  cause  of  the  fluctuations  in  coin,  and  all 


GEN.    BUTLER   AS    A   FINANCIAL    REFORMER.          163 

the  infamous  evils  of  gold  speculations,  and  the  depre 
ciation  of  our  interest-bearing  bonds.  The  bill  above 
referred  to,  which  Gen.  Butler  introduced  in  the  4Oth 
Congress,  January,  1869,  authorizes  the  issuance,  by 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  of  treasury  certificates, 
which  shall  not  be  promises  to  pay,  but  shall  bear 
upon  their  face  the  denomination  or  value  repre 
sented,  and  a  vignette,  to  prevent  counterfeiting; 
and,  on  the  back,  the  law  authorizing  their  issuance. 
In  all  other  respects  they  would  be  in  the  similitude 
of  the  greenback.  The  law  printed  upon  the  back 
makes  them  legal  tender  money,  equal  to  any  money 
coined  by  the  authority  of  the  United  States.  The 
bill  provides  for  the  repeal  of  that  part  of  the  national 
bank  law  which  authorizes  the  banks  to  issue  cur 
rency,  and  compels  the  redemption  of  all  national 
bank-notes  in  these  treasury  certificates.  It  also 
provides,  that,  when  the  banks  surrender  their  own 
notes  for  treasury  certificates,  the  securities,  govern 
ment  bonds,  which  form  the  basis  of  their  currency, 
shall  remain  in  the  United-States  treasury,  and  that 
3_65_  per  cent  of  the  interest  accruing  thereon  shall 
be  paid  to  the  Government  for  the  use  of  said  treas 
ury  certificates.  The  bill  further  provides  that  any 
corporation  or  individual  may  deposit  the  interest- 
bearing  bonds  of  the  Government  with  the  United- 
States  Treasurer,  or  any  sub-treasurer,  and  receive 
ninety  per  cent  of  the  face  of  said  bonds  in  treasury 
certificates,  for  which  they  will  be  charged  interest 
at  the  rate  of  3^$$,  to  be  deducted  from  the  interest 
accruing  on  the  said  bonds  so  deposited. 


164  LIFE   OF   BENJAMIN   F.    BUTLER. 

On  the  1 2th  of  January,  1869,  Gen.  Butler  delivered 
a  speech  in  the  House  of  Representatives  of  Con 
gress,  in  support  of  his  said  bill.  The  following  are 
the  chief  points  of  that  speech  :  — 

He  said,  — 

"  We  want  a  uniform,  sound,  cheap,  stable,  and  elastic  cur 
rency. 

"  All  financial  writers  agree  that  paper  money  is  the  cheapest 
of  any  circulating  medium.  Experience  has  proven  that  na 
tional  bank-notes,  based  upon  the  faith  and  credit  of  the  coun 
try,  possess  the  quality  of  soundness  equal  to  any  possible 
currency;  and,  as  to  the  elasticity  of  paper  money,  there  can 
be  no  room  for  argument.  Stability  is  the  fixedness  of  volume 
of  the  currency  as  compared  with  the  property  to  be  measured 
by  it ;  and  no  one  can  doubt  that  paper  money,  regulated  as  to 
volume  by  law,  is  absolutely  stable,  while  money  coined  of  gold 
or  silver,  or  any  other  substance,  limited  in  production,  and 
fluctuating  as  to  amount,  is  unstable  and  fluctuating. 

"  Our  present  paper  currency  is  sound  and  uniform,  and,  as 
to  its  production,  cheap.  But,  while  it  costs  but  little  to  produce 
it,  it  is  dear  to  the  people,  because  monopolized  by  privileged 
capitalists  :  about  half  of  it  being  fundable  into  gold-bearing 
six  per  cent  bonds,  which  are  free  from  taxation ;  and  the  other 
half  issued  through  banks,  which,  while  they  get  about  eighteen 
million  dollars  a  year  from  the  Government  for  issuing  the  three 
hundred  million  dollars  for  which  they  pay  nothing,  they  charge 
the  people  an  average  of  about  ten  per  cent  a  year. 

"  Another  fault  of  our  present  currency  is,  that,  while  it  is  a 
legal  tender  among  the  people,  it  is  not  so  in  the  payment  of 
import  dues,  or  the  interest  on  the  public  debt,  to  which  fact  is 
due  the  disastrous  fluctuations  that  have  occurred  in  our  mixed? 
system  of  currency. 

"  The  remedy  for  this,  presented  by  the  hard-money  men,  is 
to  resume  specie  payments,  that  is,  return  to  the  system  of  cur 
rency  existing  before  the  war ;  which,  if  it  were  not  impossible, 


GEN.    BUTLER   AS    A   FINANCIAL    REFORMER.  165 

would  be  absurd.  The  first  effect  of  an  attempt  to  reach  a  specie 
basis  would  be  a  ruinous  depreciation  of  every  species  of  prop 
erty  except  government  bonds,  and  of  all  wages  save  those  of 
salaried  officers,  while  every  bond  and  note  would  increase  in 
value  to  an  extent  most  oppressive  and  ruinous  to  the  tax-payers 
and  those  in  debt.  Such  an  unsettling  in  values  the  world  has 
never  seen,  nor  any  nation  endured.  It  would  be  equivalent  to 
confiscation  by  act  of  Congress  of  one-third  the  value  of  all  the 
property  in  the  country,  except  bonds  and  notes.  I  will  not 
insult  the  intelligence  of  the  House  by  any  argument  upon  the 
feasibility  or  practicability  of  this  scheme,  which  proposes  to 
deprive  the  farmers,  manufacturers,  merchants,  and  industrial 
and  enterprising  classes,  of  one-third  their  values,  for  the  benefit 
of  a  few  capitalists." 

In  the  light  of  the  fearful  experience  through 
which  this  country  has  passed  since  the  contraction 
of  the  currency  began,  and  especially  since  the  pas 
sage  of  the  resumption  law,  these  words  of  Gen. 
Butler,  uttered  ten  years  ago,  become  prophetic  wis 
dom  of  the  highest  type. 

He  foresaw  then  the  evils  that  must  attend  the 
financial  schemes,  which,  if  not  villanous,  were  in 
sane  or  idiotic,  of  those  who  advocated  a  return  to  a 
coin  basis  ;  and,  like  a  wise  statesman,  a  true  friend 
of  the  people,  he  proposed  an  excellent  remedy,  in 
the  bill  for  the  establishment  of  a  government  paper 
money,  which  should  be  equal  to  gold  in  all  respects, 
and  free  from  the  limitations  and  other  defects  of  the 
old  greenback  and  the  national-bank  currency. 

He  says,  — 

"  Let  no  man  say  that  I  desire  to  establish  or  perpetuate  a 
depreciated  currency.  I  think  I  have  proposed  a  currency  as 
valuable  as  gold,  and,  for  all  purposes  of  a  circulating  medium, 


l66  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

better  than  gold ;  every  dollar  of  which,  I  doubt  not,  will  soon 
be  made  equal  to  gold.  But  what  I  do  desire  is,  that  the  cur 
rency  shall  not  be  redeemable  in  gold  and  silver,  so  that  any 
man,  because  he  has  a  dollar  of  it,  can  call  for  so  many  grains 
of  gold,  which  must  be  paid  him,  and  the  currency  cancelled  to 
that  extent ;  but  with  his  currency  he  must  buy  his  gold  as  he 
does  his  wheat,  where  it  can  be  had  in  open  market.  In  other 
words,  the  value  of  the  currency  of  this  country,  its  volume,  its 
stability,  the  values  of  all  property  of  the  country,  shall  no  longer 
be  at  the  mercy  of  the  panics,  the  caprice,  the  speculations,  or 
the  needs,  of  the  bankers  of  Europe  or  the  traders  of  Asia. 

"  But  I  hear  the  bullionists  exclaim,  *  Our  money  must  be  the 
same  as  the  money  of  the  world.'  '  We  cannot  have  a  different 
standard  of  value  from  other  nations.'  I  would  as  soon,  or 
sooner,  have  our  government,  our  laws,  our  institutions,  the  same 
as  the  institutions  of  the  rest  of  the  world.  We  have  divested 
our  government  of  every  trait  of  the  despotisms,  every  attribute 
of  the  monarchies,  and  every  vestige  of  the  slaveries,  of  the  Old 
World,  save  one ;  and  that  is  the  all-controlling  and  all-absorb 
ing  power  by  which  masses  of  the  people  of  all  nations  of  the 
earth  have  ever  been  enslaved,  —  coined  money. 

"  More  than  three  thousand  years  ago  the  despots  of  the 
world,  as  the  most  potent  method  to  enrich  themselves  and 
their  favorites,  and  perpetuate  their  tyranny,  hit  upon  the  device 
of  impressing  their  '  image  and  superscription,'  or  other  peculiar 
stamp,  upon  pieces  of  two  of  the  metals,  not  the  most  intrin 
sically  useful  or  the  most  beautiful,  but  the  most  scarce,  and  diffi 
cult  of  attainment  by  the  masses  of  the  people ;  thus  arbitrarily 
making  a  measure  of  value  and  equivalent  for  which  the  prop 
erty  of  their  subjects  must  be  exchanged.  Because  of  their 
capabilities  of  being  so  converted  into  equivalents  of  power, 
the  so-called  precious  metals  were  eagerly  sought  after  by  all 
men,  in  such  a  degree  that  they  came  falsely  to  be  deemed  to 
have  a  special  intrinsic  value  in  themselves  equal  to  the  effigy 
of  value  stamped  upon  them. 

"In  the  earliest  republics,  when  governments  were  estab 
lished  by  the  people  for  themselves,  the  worth  and  potency  of 


GEN.    BUTLER   AS    A    FINANCIAL    REFORMER.  l6/ 

these  metals  were  antagonized  as  attributes  of  despotism. 
They  stamped  value  upon  the  more  common  and  equally  useful 
metals  generally  distributed  among  the  people,  to  be  used  by 
them  as  instruments  of  exchange  and  trade. 

"  Thus,  in  early  Greece,  the  effigy  of  the  ox,  the  most  valua 
ble  of  the  people's  possessions,  was  impressed  upon  pieces  of 
brass  or  iron,  intrinsically  of  little  value,  but  thus  made  the 
equivalent  of  comparatively  considerable  wealth. 

"  So  Rome,  for  more  than  five  centuries,  used  the  effigy  of 
the  sheep,  pecus,  impressed  upon  copper  for  currency,  thereby 
giving  the  name  pecunia,  by  which  money  and  wealth  were 
afterwards  designated  throughout  the  world.  It  is  now  ad 
mitted  by  all  political  economists,  that  finely  engraved  printing 
upon  paper,  fixing  its  value,  is  the  best  of  all  possible  substi 
tutes  for  coined  money  for  circulation,  and  cheaper  as  a  cur 
rency  for  a  people  than  gold  itself.  It  may  therefore  be  safely 
assumed,  that,  had  the  arts  and  education  been  sufficiently 
advanced  in  the  Grecian  and  Roman  republics,  the  money  of 
the  people  would  have  been  such  paper,  instead  of  the  ponder 
ous  and  inconvenient  metals. 

"  Not  until  the  people  of  these  free  commonwealths  became 
deteriorated  by  vices  and  luxury,  yielding  their  liberties  to 
tyrants  either  by  choice  or  usurpation,  did  gold  and  silver,  the 
ever-ready  adjuncts  of  despotic  power  in  all  its  forms  and 
degrees,  obtain  place  and  scope  to  do  their  appropriate  and 
never-failing  work,  the  enslavement  of  the  labor  of  the  masses. 
It  will  be  remembered,  when  the  victorious  Gaul  threw  his 
sheathed  sword  into  the  scale  as  the  counterpoise  of  Rome's 
degradation,  the  beam  was  not  balanced  by  her  money,  but  by 
the  ornaments  and  trinkets  of  the  richer  of  her  citizens;  for 
she  had  neither  gold  nor  silver  coins  for  more  than  a  century. 

"  Twelve  centuries  afterward,  when  the  feudal  system 
divided  Europe,  just  then  emerging  from  the  dark  ages,  into 
many  small  principalities  and  powers,  had  given  petty  princes, 
dukes,  barons,  and  bishops,  control  of  the  liberties  of  the 
impoverished  people,  each  claimed  as  his  prerogative  the  right 
to  fix  his  value  to  pieces  of  gold  and  silver,  and  the  same  to 


1 68  LIFE   OF   BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

change  and  debase  at  his  will,  by  which  his  serfs  must  measure 
their  possessions,  and  pay  tribute  to  him  of  all  they  had. 
Coined  gold  and  silver  has  ever  been  the  handmaid  of  despot 
ism  ;  the  prop  of  monarchical  power ;  the  supporter  of  thrones ; 
the  upholder  of  nobilities  and  priesthoods ;  the  engine  by 
which  the  privileges  and  pretensions  of  aristocrats  have  always 
been  sustained  in  trampling  down  the  rights,  devouring  the  sub 
stance,  and  absorbing  the  unrequited  labors,  of  the  masses. 
Through  all  time  the  possession  of  money  has  given  power  to 
the  few  to  enslave  the  labor  of  the  many  for  the  benefit  of 
princes  and  nobles ;  and  its  use  has  been  the  badge  of  servi 
tude  of  all  peoples  of  some  king  or  tyrant.  To  deny  this,  at 
one  time,  was  treason. 

"  Our  patriot  fathers,  founding  a  government  for  themselves 
on  this  continent,  carefully  eliminated  from  its  framework  every 
attribute  of  monarchy  and  aristocracy,  the  divine  right  of  kings, 
patents  of  nobility,  the  succession  of  primogeniture,  the  law  of 
entail,  the  fealty  of  one  man  to  another,  —  every  one  of  the 
devices  of  kingcraft  and  oppression  with  which  the  people  are 
governed  by  a  class,  —  all,  save  one  :  they  retained,  whether  for 
good  or  evil,  the  precious  metals  stamped  with  the  king's  image 
as  the  standard  by  which  to  measure  the  property  and  industry 
of  the  new  Republic.  '  It  was  a  grievous  fault,'  and  grievonsly 
have  their  children  answered  it.  Great,  wise,  and  good  men, 
we  marvel  that  they  foresaw  so  much ;  *  but  they  saw  not  all 
things.' 

"  It  is  easy  to  understand  what  determined  them  in  this  ex 
ceptional  adoption  of  gold  and  silver,  which  were  the  monar 
chical  standards  of  value.  They  had  just  emerged  from  a  war 
for  liberty,  during  which  they  had  seen  their  paper  substitute 
for  that  standard  rendered  quite  valueless  and  useless,  because 
made  convertible  and  redeemable  in  gold  and  silver  only, 
where  gold  and  silver  were  impossible  to  be  had. 

"  But  the  Continental  currency  wanted  every  thing  which 
could  give  it  value.  Issued  by  an  aggregation,  or  conglomera 
tion  rather,  of  States  just  struggling  for  existence,  trying  an 
experiment  of  government  in  a  new  world  which  many  of  their 


GEN.    BUTLER   AS   A    FINANCIAL    REFORMER.  169 

best  people  more  than  doubted  would  be  a  failure,  and  end  in 
anarchy  ;  without  checks  and  guards  against  over-issues,  coarsely 
engraved,  easy  of  forgery,  degraded  by  counterfeits  by  their  ene 
mies  so  that  it  was  difficult  to  distinguish  the  genuine  from  the 
false,  —  the  only  wonder  is  that  such  a  currency  was  ever  capa 
ble  of  the  good  service  it  did  do  in  the  war  of  independence." 

After  a  masterly  and  scholarly  review  of  the  his 
tory  of  currency  in  our  own  country  and  Europe, 
showing  that  in  that  period  when  gold  and  silver  had 
been  the  nominal  money,  paper  currency  had  really 
been  the  circulating  medium,  and  that,  while  coin 
had  been  the  pretended  basis  of  the  paper  currency, 
it  had  always  failed  as  a  redeeming  power  whenever 
put  to  the  test,  Gen.  Butler  closed  his  speech  as  fol 
lows  :  — 

"  Instead  of  this  money,  the  instrument  of  tyrants,  which 
has  wrought  all  these  evils,  I  propose  a  paper  currency,  admittedly 
the  cheapest  and  most  convenient,  its  value  based  not  only 
upon  the  gold  in  the  country,  but  upon  every  other  source  and 
element  of  the  national  prosperity,  emancipated  from  the  con 
trol  of  all  other  nations,  whether  civilized  or  barbarous.  It  is 
the  currency  for  a  free  people,  strong  enough  to  maintain  every 
other  of  their  institutions  against  the  world,  whose  governments 
they  have  antagonized  ;  strong  enough  to  sustain  the  measure 
of  their  business  transactions  with  each  other,  independent  of 
kings,  the  least,  — or  bankers,  now  the  most,  —  potent  sovereigns 
in  the  world.  It  is  one  of  the  blessings  of  the  war,  that  we  are 
enabled  for  the  first  time  to  stand  alone  in  -our  industries  and 
internal  commerce,  as  we  have  in  our  institutions. 

"It  cannot  fail  to  have  attracted  attention,  that  the  only  rem 
edy  for  all  evils  brought  on  by  a  currency  convertible  into  spe 
cie  when  distress  is  upon  the  merchant,  ruin  upon  the  manu 
facturer,  and  disaster  upon  the  banker,  when  the  banks  of  the 
United  States,  of  England,  and  of  France  could  afford  no  aid, 


I/O  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

has  always  been  a  suspension  of  specie  payments ;  i.e.,  by  the 
use  in  these,  the  foremost  nations  of  the  world,  of  an  inconvert 
ible  paper  currency.  If  such  currency  is  so  potent  as  a  remedy 
for  all  financial  diseases  which  beset  a  nation,  whether  in  peace 
or  war,  whether  arising  from  over-trading,  over-speculation,  or 
over-investment,  why  may  it  not  be  equally  beneficial  as  a  fixed, 
permanent,  and  staple  circulating  medium,  to  supply  the  de 
mands  of  business  and  the  necessities  of  the  people  ? 

"  The  experiment  of  an  inconvertible  currency  has  been 
tried  on  the  most  extended  scale,  and  through  long  periods. of 
time,  and  under  the  most  trying  circumstances,  and  has  never 
failed.  In  1797,  when  the  British  Empire  was  threatened  with 
rebellion  in  Ireland,  and  was  sustaining  all  Europe  against  the 
victories  of  Bonaparte  with  its  subsidies  of  gold,  the  question 
came  to  her  great  war-minister,  Pitt,  Shall  the.  integrity  of  the 
empire  be  lost  ?  Shall  France  overrun  all  Europe,  and  threaten 
Great  Britain  in  the*  East  ?  or  shall  the  currency  of  the  empire 
be  the  inconvertible  note  of  the  Bank  of  England  ?  He  chose 
the  latter,  —  how  wisely,  the  success  of  England  and  the  allied 
armies  culminating  at  Waterloo  attest.  An  inconvertible  cur 
rency  fought  the  battles  of  England  and  of  the  world  from  that 
Sunday  morning,  the  23d  of  February,  1797,  when  the  king  him 
self,  in  council,  ordered  the  suspension  of  specie  payments  till 
the  1 8th  of  June,  1815. 

"  Irredeemable  paper  laid  the  foundation  of  England's  man 
ufacturing  and  commercial  prosperity,  supplied  her  navy,  which 
at  Trafalgar  made  her  the  mistress  of  the  seas,  and  procured 
the  gold  with  which  all  the  armies  of  Europe  were  paid ;  and 
for  eighteen  years  there  was  neither  financial  revulsion,  busi 
ness-panic,  nor  distress.  In  answer  to  the  objection  that  it  is 
necessary  to  have  gold  currency  for  foreign  trade,  I  quote 
Maclaren,  —  one  of  the  most  philosophical  as  well  as  accurate 
writers  of  England,  —  in  his  History  of  the  Currency:  — 

"  '  It  is  remarkable  that  no  difficulty  was  experienced  by  our  merchants  in 
carrying  on  their  trade  with  other  nations  during  this  period,  though  they  no 
longer  had  a  stock  of  bullion  kept  for  them  at  the  bank,  by  means  of  which 
they  might  adjust  their  foreign  payments.  No  inconvenience,  indeed,  of  any 


GEN.    BUTLER    AS    A    FINANCIAL    REFORMER.  I/I 

kind,  was  felt  from  the  substitution  of  paper  for  gold ;  and,  if  the  bank-directors 
had  so  ordered  their  issues  as  to  keep  the  mint  and  market  price  of  gold  on  an 
equality,  it  seems  that  no  objection  could  have  been  urged  against  the  paper 
currency,  except  its  liability  to  forgery,  and  we  should  never  have  heard  of  the 
currency  controversy.' 

"  We  remember  our  own  war  of  the  Rebellion,  without  the 
legal-tender  note,  must  have  come  to  an  end  in  the  beginning 
of  1862.  The  banks  had  suspended,  and,  like  broken  reeds 
the  Government  could  no  longer  lean  upon  them.  Business 
was  paralyzed,  men  and  supplies  could  hardly  be  obtained,  the 
armies  were  unpaid,  and  no  decisive  battle  had  been  fought 
when  Congress  passed  the  legal-tender  act  of  1862.  From 
that  time  business  received  a  new  impulse,  labor  was  employed, 
manufactures  everywhere  sprung  up,  supplies  were  abundant; 
and  although  by  a  great  error  the  legal-tender  note  was  not 
made  the  money  of  the  Government  for  all  purposes,  as  it 
should  have  been,  yet,  crippled  as  it  was,  it  supplied  and  paid 
our  soldiers,  pensioned  the  wounded,  provided  for  the  widow 
and  orphan,  and  produced  a  degree  of  prosperity  heretofore 
unknown,  which  has  been  maintained  ever  since ;  and  during 
this  period  of  six  years  financial  panics  and  disasters  were  un 
known  and  unthought  cf  until  the  insane  attempt  of  the  bank 
er  and  capitalist  to  force  a  return  to  specie  payments  by  a  con 
traction  of  the  currency. 

'•During  the  year  1864  we  exported  more  than  one  hundred 
millions  of  gold  and  silver,  only  thirty-five  millions  of  which 
came  from  San  Francisco,  and  no  one  knew  the  fact  from  any 
effect  it  had  on  the  business  of  the  country.  In  any  other  year, 
while  our  currency  was  upon  a  specie  basis,  the  export  of  one- 
tenth  part  of  that  sum  beyond  our  production  would  have  pro 
duced  financial  panics,  ruin,  and  distress,  greater  than  that  of 
1837,  when  our  total  export  of  specie  was  less  than  six  million 
dollars. 

"  Point  me  to  any  other  six  years  in  the  financial  history  of 
the  country,  in  which  labor  has  been  so  well  paid  ;  in  which  pro 
duction  has  been  so  varied  and  so  successful ;  in  which  there 
has  not  been  more  than  one  financial  panic,  scattering  ruin  and 


LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

disaster  through  the  land.  We  have  heard  much  of  the  patri 
otism  of  the  bankers  and  capitalists,  who  are  said  to  have  come 
forward  to  lend  their  gold  to  the  country  in  its  time  of  utmost 
need ;  but  that  is  exactly  what  they  did  not  do. 

"In  December,  1861,  the  banks  suspended  specie  payments 
without  right,  without  authority  of  law,  in  violation  of  their  own 
plighted  faith  and  promises,  so  that  neither  the  Government  nor 
any  one  else  could  get  a  dollar  of  their  gold  from  their  vaults. 
When,  in  pursuance  of  the  act  of  Congress  of  25th  February, 
1862,  $150,000,000  of  legal-tender  notes  were  issued,  with  which 
our  soldiers  were  paid,  and  the  debts  of  the  United  States  can 
celled,  did  the  banks  or  capitalists  loan  these  to  the  Govern 
ment,  or  did  we  make  them  for  ourselves?  On  the  contrary, 
the  banks  refused  even  to  receive  the  Government  notes  on 
deposit.  When  the  Government  wanted  more  money  to  pay 
the  soldier,  and  carry  on  the  war,  did  they  get  it  from  the 
banker  and  capitalist?  No:  they  issued  their  own  legal-tender 
notes  as  money,  and  paid  their  debts.  Having  provided  that 
these  notes  might  be  funded  into  a  gold-bearing  six  per  cent 
bond,  the  capitalists  bought  them  up  when  they  fell  to  a  dis 
count  of  sixty  per  cent,  by  selling  the  gold  at  that  premium, 
which  they  had  hoarded  in  their  vaults,  and  had  refused  to  loan 
to  the  Government,  and  funded  this,  which  they  now  call  failed 
paper,  in  bonds  for  the  payment  of  which  in  gold,  or,  what  is  its 
equivalent,  a  return  to  specie  payments,  they  now  howl  at  the 
doors  of  the  Capitol,  unmindful  of  the  destruction  of  value,  the 
starving  of  the  laborer,  and  the  ruin  and  devastation  they  may 
cause. 

"  Although  this  return  to  specie  payment  has  been  agitated 
ever  since  the  war,  what  petition  has  come  up  to  you  from  the 
people  demanding  it  at  your  hands?  What  meetings  of  the 
people  have  been  held  to  make  to  you  petitions  for  relief  from 
grievances  in  this  behalf?  Not  one,  —  not  one:  only  resolu 
tions  of  boards  of  trade  and  bankers. 

"  I  stand  here,  therefore,  for  inconvertible  paper  money,  the 
greenback,  which  has  fought  our  battles,  and  saved  our  country  ; 
which  has  been  held  by  us  as  a  just  equivalent  for  the  blood 


GEN.    BUTLER    AS    A    FINANCIAL    REFORMER.  173 

of  our  soldiers,  the  lives  of  our  sons,  the  widowhood  of  our 
daughters,  and  the  orphanage  of  their  children. 

"  I  stand  here  for  a  currency  by  which  the  business 
transactions  of  forty  million  people  are  safely  and  successfully 
done ;  which,  founded  on  the  faith,  the  wealth,  and  property  of 
the  nation,  is  at  once  the  exemplar  and  engine  of  its  industry 
and  power,  —  the  money  which  saved  the  country  in  war,  and 
which  has  given  it  prosperity  and  happiness  in  peace.  To  it 
four  million  men  owe  their  emancipation  from  slavery;  to  it 
labor  is  indebted  for  elevation  from  that  thrall  of  degradation 
in  which  it  has  been  enveloped  for  ages.  I  stand  for  that 
money,  therefore,  which  is  by  far  the  better  agent  and  instru 
ment  of  exchange  of  an  enlightened  and  free  people  than  gold 
and  silver,  —  the  money  alike  of  the  barbarian  and  the  despot." 

Gen.  Butler  has  not  found  it  necessary  to  materially 
change  his  views  since  the  delivery  of  this  speech. 
On  the  contrary,  he  has  maintained  the  position  on 
the  currency  question  then  assumed ;  and  by  tongue 
and  pen,  in  the  halls  of  Congress,  on  the  lecture-plat 
form,  in  the  chambers  of  commerce,  on  the  public 
rostrum,  he  has  done  what  he  could  to  educate  the 
people  on  this  vital  issue,  —  the  most  vital  issue  ever 
presented  to  the  American  people. 

In  the  mean  time  the  public  sentiment  of  the  coun 
try  has  been,  at  first  slowly,  but  now  rapidly,  coming 
in  favor  of  his  views.  On  the  26th  of  February, 
1878,  in  the  House  of  Representatives  of  Congress, 
Gen.  Butler  delivered  a  speech  upon  finance,  in  which 
he  summarizes  his  doctrines  in  a  manner  so  terse, 
comprehensive,  and  clear,  that  none  can  fail  to  under 
stand  him.  He  said,  — 

"  We  want  the  greenback  for  our  currency,  and  mean  to 
have  it. 


LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.   BUTLER. 

"  But  I  do  not  desire  that  the  greenback  currency  should  be 
made  to  serve  the  country  as  it  has  done, — vilified,  insulted, 
depreciated  by  the  act  of  the  Government  itself ;  being  refused 
not  only  to  be  received  for  all  debts  due  the  Government,  not 
even  paid  for  all  demands  due  from  the  Government. 

"  The  '  American  system  of  finance  '  which  will  obtain  in 
the  near  future,  —  and  I  hope  at  once,  —  which  I  desire,  is  :  — 

"  First,  a  dollar  that  shall  have  at  all  times  a  certain  fixed 
and  stable  value  below  which  it  cannot  go. 

"  Second,  I  demand  that  that  dollar  shall  be  issued  by  the 
Government  alone,  in  the  exercise  of  its  high  prerogative  and 
constitutional  power,  and  that  that  power  shall  not  be  delegated 
to  any  corporation  or  individual,  any  more  than  Charles  the 
Second  ought  to  have  delegated  his  prerogative  of  stamping 
gold  coin  for  the  benefit  of  his  paramours,  as  a  monopoly. 

"  Third,  I  want  that  dollar  stamped  upon  some  convenient 
and  cheap  material  of  the  least  possible  intrinsic  value,  so  that 
neither  its  wear  nor  its  destruction  will  be  any  loss  to  the  Gov 
ernment  issuing  it. 

"  Fourth,  I  also  desire  the  dollar  to  be  made  of  such  material 
for  the  purpose  that  it  shall  never  be  exported  or  desirable  to 
carry  out  of  the  country.  Framing  an  American  system  of 
finance,  I  do  not  propose  to  adapt  it  to  the  wants  of  any  other 
nation,  and  especially  the  Chinese,  who  are  nearly  one-quarter 
of  the  world. 

"  Fifth,  I  desire  that  the  dollar  so  issued  shall  never  be  re 
deemed.  I  see  no  more  reason  why  the  unit  of  measure  of 
value  should  be  redeemed  or  redeemable,  than  that  the  yard 
stick  with  which  I  measure  my  cloth  or  the  quart  with  which  I 
measure  my  milk  should  be  redeemed. 

"  Sixth,  For  convenience  only,  I  propose  that  the  dollar  -so 
issued  shall  be  quite  equal  to,  or  a  little  better  than,  the  present 
value  of  the  average  gold  dollar  of  the  world,  not  to  be  changed 
or  changeable,  if  the  gold  dollar  grows  lower  in  value  or  grows 
higher,  or  to  be  obliged  to  conform  itself  in  value  in  any  regard 
to  the  dollars  of  any  other  nation  of  the  world  ;  keeping  itself 
always  stable  and  fixed,  so  that,  when  all  the  property  of  the 


GEN.    BUTLER  AS    A    FINANCIAL    REFORMER.  1 75 

country  adjusts  itself  to  it  as  a  measure  of  value,  it  shall  remain 
a  fixed  standard  forever.  But,  if  it  is  ever  changed,  it  shall 
change  equally  and  alike  for  the  creditor  and  the  debtor ;  noc 
as  the  dollar  based  upon  supposed  gold,  whose  changes  always 
have  given  the  creditor  the  advantage. 

"  This  would  tend  to  bring  to  an  end  in  all  matters  of  finance 
the  contest  between  capital  and  labor,  the  rewards  of  both  being 
brought  into  the  same  medium  of  exchange. 

"  By  this  system  of  finance  the  unforeseen  fluctuations  in  the 
volume  of  the  currency ;  the  fall  in  values  of  property,  not  to  be 
provided  against  by  business  foresight ;  the  high  rate  of  interest 
which  eats  out  the  very  vitals  of  enterprise  ;  the  means  of 
manipulating  the  currency,  by  which  the  banker  grows  rich,  and 
the  business  man  grows  poor;  and  the  fluctuations  of  real 
estate,  the  most  valuable  and  stable  of  all  possessions,  now 
changing  like  the  variations  of  the  barometer  as  the  whirlwind 
approaches,  —  will  be  as  much  a  thing  of  the  past  as  are  the 
products  of  hand-spinning  and  hand-weaving  as  compared  with 
the  textures  woven  by  the  power-loom. 

"  I  sketched  in  this  place  this  system  of  finance  nine  years 
ago.  It  was  not  popular  then,  perhaps  because  unknown:  it 
is  now  much  more  known,  and  has  become  the  demand  of  the 
people.  I  have  received  political  persecution,  and  sometimes 
almost  social  ostracism,  because  of  these  views,  ever  since. 
What  motive  could  I  then  have  had,  and  now  have,  to  advocate 
them,  except  the  prosperity,  power,  and  glory  of  my  country  ? 

"  Because  of  this  advocacy  I  have  been  called  a  demagogue. 
If  a  demagogue,  why  did  I  advocate  then,  and  still  cling  to,  an 
unpopular  measure  ?  Demagogues  seek  to  ride  into  power  on 
popular  prejudices.  On  the  contrary,  the  statesman  seeks  to 
remedy  hurtful  errors  in  the  government  of  his  country,  and 
instruct  the  popular  mind  in  regard  to  them,  regardless  of  loss 
or  gain,  of  place  or  power.  By  that  standard  I  am  ready  to 
have  all  my  acts  tried  in  the  candid  judgment  of  all  just  men." 

It  is  an  interesting  though  disagreeable  fact,  that 
the  progressive  statesman  and  religious  reformer 


176  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

share  the  same  fate  in  all  ages  and  countries,  —  that 
of  being  misunderstood,  misrepresented,  maligned, 
and  persecuted  by  those  in  power  and  position.  As 
illustrations  the  author  points  to  Garrison,  Phillips, 
Giddings,  Hale,  Sumner,  and  Lincoln.  The  cause 
for  which  these  labored  and  suffered  has  triumphed, 
hence  their  persecutions  have  ceased.  They  are  he 
roes  now,  not  martyrs  ;  statesmen,  not  demagogues. 
But  thirty  years  ago  every  one  of  these  men  were 
the  subjects  of  the  vilest  abuse  and  bitterest  denun 
ciation  by  the  majority  of  the  politicians  and  editors ; 
and  even  the  pulpit  was  in  large  measure  against 
them.  The  demagogue  floats  with  the  current  of 
popular  opinion,  merely  reflecting  the  opinions  of 
others,  never  daring  to  have  one  of  his  own.  Thus 
he  avoids  arousing  the  ignorant  prejudices  of  pulpit, 
press,  and  party,  who  join  in  pronouncing  him  a 
statesman. 

The  true  statesman,  however,  is  a  different  sort  of 
man.  He  has  opinions,  and  the  courage  and  honesty 
to  express  them  and  defend  them.  Those  who  do 
not  agree  with  him,  yet  cannot  successfully  criticise 
his  views,  denounce  him  as  a  fool  or  a  demagogue. 
This  is  the  secret  of  all  the  ridicule  and  vile  abuse 
fulminated  at  Gen.  Butler  on  account  of  his  currency 
doctrines. 


AS    A   FRIEND    OF   THE    WORKING-CLASSES.        I// 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

GEN.    BUTLER   AS   A  FRIEND  OF  THE  WORKING-CLASSES. 

DURING  his  entire  career,  public  and  private, 
Gen.  Butler  has  shown  a  keen  and  active  sense 
of  justice.  This  sentiment  is  his  guide.  By  it  he 
is  governed  in  his  business  relations,  and  to  it  he  is 
ever  true  in  his  political  action. 

As  a  private  citizen,  an  officer  in  the  army,  a  mem 
ber  of  the  assembly  of  his  State  or  of  the  National 
Legislature,  his  influence,  his  pen,  and  his  voice  are 
active  in  behalf  of  those,  who,  as  he  justly  says, 
create  the  wealth  of  the  world  by  the  toil  of  the 
hand,  and  the  sweat  of  the  face,  but  who  get  but  a 
meagre  share  of  what  they  create. 

In  a  speech  delivered  in  Congress,  May  21,  1878, 
on  his  own  bill  for  the  relief  of  the  laboring  classes, 
the  following  eloquent  and  thrilling  sentences 
occur :  — 

"Within  two  years,  1862  and  1864,  Congress  appropriated 
sixty-four  million  dollars  to  railroad  companies,  besides  giving 
them,  at  that  time  and  since,  285,000,000  of  acres  of  the  public 
lands,  an  empire  in  extent,  and  worth,  at  the  price  these  corpo 
rations  are  charging  the  emigrants,  five  dollars  per  acre,  $1,425,- 
000,000,  being,  when  added  to  the  money  subsidies,  an  amount 


1/8  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

almost  equal  to  the  entire  bonded  debt  of  the  nation.  How 
much  capital  received  of  these  vast  sums,  and  how  much  la 
bor  got  for  its  share,  can  never  be  accurately  known.  But  one 
thing  is  certain :  that  the  industrial  classes  never  got  one  dollar 
that  they  did  not  work  and  pay  for  by  their  labor.  No  divi 
dends,  no  subsidies,  no  Credit  Mobiliers,  ever  come  to  labor. 

"The  laborer  is  the  producer  of  wealth;  capital  is  the  receiver 
and  distributor  ;  and  there  should  be  no  contest,  but  an  equita 
ble  reciprocity  between  them ;  neither  should  get  more  in  fair 
proportion  than  the  other.  As  the  veins  and  arteries  take  up 
and  circulate  the  blood  in  the  nourishment  of  the  human  body, 
so  capital. ought  to  circulate  wealth  by  means  of  the  veins  and 
arteries  of  trade  through  the  body  politic  for  the  nourishment 
of  every  part  thereof.  When  the  circulation  of  our  blood  stag 
nates,  or  any  organ  or  member  of  our  body  absorbs  more  than 
its  share,  disease  ensues,  and  if  a  remedy  is  not  applied  death 
follows. 

"Is  there  no  stagnation  now?  Is  there  no  disease  in  the 
body  politic  ?  and  does  wealth  equally  and  properly  share  in  just 
proportion,  and  nourish  all  the  members  of  the  body  of  the 
nation,  and  circulate  equally  and  steadily  through  every  vein 
and  artery  ?  Or  is  it  stagnant  and  corrupt  around  the  heart  and 
the  head,  leaving  the  arms  and  feet  cold  as  in  death,  and  the 
whole  body  ready  to  perish  ?  Woe  to  us  if  fever  sets  in,  and 
the  paralyzed  arm  becomes  uncontrolled  by  the  will,  and  strikes 
home,  scattering  confusion,  riot,  and  death ! 

"  I  speak  these  words  in  all  soberness  and  sorrow,  because  I 
feel  it  my  duty  so  to  do.  I  call  attention  to  the  wrong,  and  the 
necessity  of  remedy.  I  call  upon  Congress  here  and  now  to 
apply  that  remedy  at  once.  We  have  spent  more  than  a  week 
over  a  political  question  which  for  its  utmost  can  have  no  sig 
nificance  in  affecting  the  business  of  the  country,  being  only 
whether  A  or  B  shall  distribute  the  Federal  offices.  Would 
that  that  week  could  have  been  devoted  to  steady,  careful  exami 
nation  of  the  dangers  which  sorround  us,  and  an  endeavor  to 
apply  a  remedy ! 

"  Mark  my  words,  for  I  desire  to  be  held  responsible  for 


AS    A    FRIEND    OF    THE    WORKING-CLASSES. 


them  :  there  is  great  danger  if  we  allow  ourselves  to  go  home, 
and  give  no  relief  to  the  present  condition  of  the  country.  When 
the  day  of  reckoning  comes,  as  come  it  must,  how  mean  and  piti 
ful  will  our  economies  in  appropriations  appear  ! 

"  I  know  that  these  views  and  the  consideration  of  this  sul> 
ject  is  not  a  pleasant  one.  I  neither  ask  for,  hope,  nor  expect 
applause  for  presenting  them  to  this  House.  If  I  desired  that, 
I  would  make  a  speech,  if  I  could,  showing  how  the  value  of  a 
United  States  bond  in  the  hand  of  a  foreign  banker  could  be 
raised  ten  per  cent  ;  or  how  it  were  possible  that  a  favorite 
claim  of  some  section  of  the  country  could  be  saddled  on  the 
treasury  ;  or  how  the  favorite  interest  of  some  portion  of  the 
country  could  be  subserved  by  a  law  adapted  to  its  special  inter 
ests.  Or,  if  I  desired  to  '  bring  down  the  house  '  in  a  storm 
of  applause,  I  would  utter  some  biting  sarcasm  upon  the  intel 
lect,  or  some  attack  upon  the  character,  of  some  member  of  the 
House. 

"  For  myself,  let  it  not  be  said  I  have  given  no  plan  or  details 
by  which  a  remedy  may  be  administered." 

Strange  words  these  to  fall  from  the  lips  of  a  mem 
ber  of  Congress,  and  harshly  they  doubtless  grated 
upon  the  delicate  ears  of  political  demagogues  of 
both  parties.  But  they  are  words  of  wisdom,  born  in 
the  brain  of  a  statesman  whose  love  of  justice  is  far 
greater  than  his  love  of  party,  or  office,  or  power. 
They  reveal  a  heart  that  beats  responsive  to  the 
demand  for  justice,  that  in  this  age,  and  this  country, 
is  being  made  as  never  before  in  any  nation. 

Gen.  Butler  is  not  a  sentimentalist.  He  is  not  a 
reformer,  in  the  common  acceptance  of  that  term. 
But  he  believes  in  the  principles  of  equity.  He  has 
profound  respect  for  right.  Did  he  live  in  a  country 
ruled  by  despotic  power,  he  would  doubtless  be  a 


I  SO  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

revolutionist.  He  would  demand  a  re-organization  of 
the  government,  on  the  principles  of  freedom,  equal 
rights,  and  justice.  But,  recognizing  the  fact  that 
this  government  is  based  upon  those  grand  princi 
ples,  he  simply  demands  that  they  should  become 
active  forces  in  the  body  politic,  that  the  statute  laws 
shall  conform  to  the  Constitution.  This  is  all  that  is 
needed  to  cure  the  evils  of  which  the  laboring  classes 
complain. 

He  is  not  a  communist,  agrarian,  Jacobin,  or  red 
republican,  but  a  true  democrat.  He  demands  that 
class  legislation  shall  cease,  and  all  laws  be  equal  in 
their  influence  upon  all  classes,  and  that  all  rights 
under  the  Constitution  shall  be  maintained  and 
enforced  by  the  legislative,  executive,  and  judiciary 
powers  of  the  nation.  The  Constitution  makes  it 
the  duty  of  Congress  to  coin  money,  and  regulate  its 
value,  to  provide  the  country  with  a  medium  of  ex 
change.  Gen.  Butler  demands  that  it  shall  discharge 
this  important  duty,  and  not  farm  out  the  job  to 
privileged  individuals  or  corporations.  This  is  the 
fundamental  basis  of  his  currency-reform  doctrines. 
He  holds  that  the  public  domain  belongs  to  the  whole 
people,  and  that  for  Congress  to  parcel  out  the  public 
lands  to  railroad  corporations  is  unjust  and  vicious 
legislation. 

HE    BELIEVES    IN    UNIVERSAL    SUFFRAGE. 

Gen.  Butler  is  an  uncompromising  advocate  for 
universal  citizen  suffrage,  both  because  that  is  the 
palladium  of  liberty,  and  because  the  Constitution 


AS    A    FRIEND    OF    THE    WORKING-CLASSES.         l8l 

guarantees  to  every  citizen  of  this  Republic  the  right 
to  vote.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Judiciary  Commit 
tee  of  the  gor^^fir^Coag^ess.  His  committee  was 
called  upon,  in  the  discharge  of  its  duties,  to  make 
report  upon  the  subject  of  the  right  of  the  female 
citizens  of  the  Republic  to  vote  for  members  of  Con 
gress.  The  committee  made  two  reports  :  a  majority 
report,  written  by  Mr.  Bingham,  against  the  right  of 
woman  to  the  ballot ;  and  a  minority  report,  present 
ed  by  Mr.  Loughridge,  but  signed  also  by  Gen.  Butler, 
and  the  authorship  of  which  is  credited  to  him.  Thar 
the  reader  may  understand  his  position  on  that  ques 
tion,  the  following  extract  from  that  report  is  quoted 
here :  — 

The  Constitution  is  necessarily  confined  to  the  statement  of 
general  principles.  There  are  regulations  necessary  to  be  made 
as  to  the  qualifications  of  voters,  as  to  their  proper  age,  their 
domicile,  the  length  of  residence  necessary  to  entitle  the  citi 
zen  to  vote  in  a  given  State  or  place.  These  particulars  could 
not  be  provided  in  the  Constitution,  but  are  necessarily  left  to 
the  States  ;  and  this  section  is  thus  construed  as  to  be  in  har 
mony  with  itself,  and  with  the  expressed  objects  of  the  framers 
of  the  Constitution,  and  the  principles  of  free  government. 

When  the  majority  of  the  committee  can  demonstrate  that 
"the  people  of  the  States,"  and  one-half  the  people  of  the 
States,  are  equivalent  terms,  or  that,  when  the  Constitution  pro 
vides  that  the  representatives  shall  be  elected  by  the  people, 
its  requirements  are  met  by  an  election  in  which  less  than  one- 
half  the  adult  people  are  allowed  to  vote,  then  it  will  be  admitted 
that  this  section  to  some  extent  sustains  them. 

The  committee  say,  that,  if  it  had  been  intended  that  Congress 
should  prescribe  the  qualifications  of  electors,  the  grant  would 
have  given  Congress  that  power  specifically.  We  do  not  claim 
that  Congress  has  that  power :  on  the  contrary,  admit  that  the 


1 82  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

States  have  it ;  but  the  section  of  the  Constitution  does  prescribe 
who  the  electors  shall  be.  That  is  what  we  claim  —  nothing 
more.  They  shall  be  "the  people."  Their  qualifications  may 
be  regulated  by  the  States ;  but  to  the  claim  of  the  majority  of 
the  committee  that  they  may  be  "  qualified "  out  of  existence, 
we  cannot  assent. 

We  are  told  that  the  acquiescence  by  the  people,  since  the 
adoption  of  the  Constitution,  in  the  denial  of  political  rights  to 
women  citizens,  and  the  general  understanding  that  such  denial 
was  in  conformity  with  the  Constitution,  should  be  taken  to 
settle  the  construction  of  that  instrument. 

Any  force  this  argument  may  have,  it  can  only  apply  to  the 
original  text,  and  not  to  the  fourteenth  amendment,  which  is  of 
but  recent  date. 

But,  as  a  general  principle,  this  theory  is  fallacious.  It  would 
stop  all  political  progress ;  it  would  put  an  end  to  all  original 
thought,  and  put  the  people  under  that  tyranny  with  which  the 
friends  of  liberty  have  always  had  to  contend,  —  the  tyranny  of 
precedent. 

From  the  beginning,  our  Government  has  been  right  in 
theory,  but  wrong  in  practice.  The  Constitution,  had  it  been 
carried  out  in  its  true  spirit,  and  its  principles  enforced,  would 
have  stricken  the  chains  from  every  slave  in  the  Republic  long 
since.  Yet,  for  all  this,  it  was  but  a  few  years  since  declared,  by 
the  highest  judicial  tribunal  of  the  Republic,  that,  according  to 
the  "  general  understanding,"  the  black  man  in  this  country  had 
no  rights  the  white  man  was  bound  to  respect.  General  under 
standing  and  acquiescence  is  a  very  unsafe  rule  by  which  to  try 
questions  of  constitutional  law,  and  precedents  are  not  infallible 
guides  toward  liberty  and  the  rights  of  man. 

Without  any  law  to  authorize  it,  slavery  existed  in  England, 
and  was  sustained  and  perpetuated  by  popular  opinion,  univer 
sal  custom,  and  the  acquiescence  of  all  departments  of  the  gov 
ernment,  as  well  as  by  the  subjects  of  its  oppression.  A  few 
fearless  champions  of  liberty  struggled  against  the  universal 
sentiment,  and  contended  that,  by  the  laws  of  England  slavery 
could  not  exist  in  the  kingdom  ;  and,  though  for  years  unable 
to  obtain  a  hearing  in  any  British  court,  the  Sommersett  case 


AS   A    FRIEND    OF   THE   WORKING-CLASSES.        183 

was  finally  tried  in  the  Court  of  King's  Bench  in  1771,  Lord 
Mansfield  presiding,  wherein  that  great  and  good  man,  after  a 
long  and  patient  hearing,  declared  that  no  law  of  England  al 
lowed  or  approved  of  slavery,  and  discharged  the  negro.  And 
it  was  then  judicially  declared  that  no  slave  could  breathe  upon 
the  soil  of  England,  although  slavery  had  up  to  that  time  existed 
for  centuries,  under  the  then  existing  laws.  The  laws  were 
right,  but  the  practice  and  public  opinion  were  wrong. 

It  is  said  by  the  majority  of  the  committee,  that,  "if  the  right 
of  female  citizens  to  suffrage  is  vested  by  the  Constitution,  that 
right  can  be  established  in  the  courts." 

We  respectfully  submit  that,  with  regard  to  the  competency 
and  qualification  of  electors  for  members  of  this  House,  the 
courts  have  no  jurisdiction. 

This  House  is  the  sole  judge  of  the  election,  return,  and 
qualification  of  its  own  members  (Art.  V.  sect.  5,  of  the  Con 
stitution)  ;  and  it  is  for  the  House  alone  to  decide,  upon  a 
contest,  who  are,  and  who  are  not,  competent  and  qualified  to 
vote.  The  judicial  department  cannot  thus  invade  the  preroga 
tives  of  the  political  department 

And  it  is  therefore  perfectly  proper,  in  our  opinion,  for  the 
House  to  pass  a  declaratory  resolution,  which  would  be  an  index 
to  the  action  of  the  House,  should  the  question  be  brought 
before  it  by  a  contest  for  a  seat. 

We  therefore  recommend  to  the  House  the  adoption  of  the 
following  resolution  :  — 

Resolved,  by  the  House  of  Representatives,  That  the  right  of 
suffrage  is  one  of  the  inalienable  rights  of  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  subject  to  regulation  by  the  States,  through  equal  and 
just  laws. 

That  this  right  is  included  in  the  "  privileges  of  citizens  of 
the  United  States,"  which  are  guaranteed  by  sect.  I  of  Art. 
XIV.  of  amendments  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  ; 
and  that  women  citizens,  who  are  otherwise  qualified  by  the 
laws  of  the  State  where  they  reside  are  competent  voters  for 
Representatives  in  Congress. 

WM.   LOUGHRIDGE. 
BENJ.   F.  BUTLER. 


184  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

There  is  no  sentimentality  in  this  report.  It  is 
simply  a  legal  opinion  based  upon  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States  of  America,  a  deduction  which  he, 
as  an  intelligent  and  honest  member  of  the  Judiciary 
Committee,  could  not  avoid  giving.  And  the  fact 
that  he  had  the  moral  heroism  to  stand  by  his  con 
victions,  against  the  prejudice  of  the  age,  which  few 
public  men  dare  oppose,  is  proof  of  his  courage,  as 
well  as  his  statesmanship. 


HIS   CAMPAIGN    FOR   GOVERNOR    IN    1878.  185 


CHAPTER   XIX. 
GEN.  BUTLER'S  CAMPAIGN  FOR  GOVERNOR  IN  1878. 

SINCE  the  late  civil  war  Gen.  Butler  has  been 
recognized  as  a  leader  of  the  Republican  party ; 
and  he  has  mainly  acted  with  that  organization  on 
all  matters  of  national  policy  except  finance.  On 
the  latter  subject  he  has  long  held  views  in  advance 
of  both  the  great  parties.  In  Massachusetts  the 
general  has,  for  years,  been  forcing  certain  questions 
of  State  reform  upon  the  attention  of  the  people. 
Unfortunately  for  the  Republican  party,  it  is  respon 
sible  for  the  abuses  which  he  desires  to  abolish  : 
hence  those  Republican  leaders  who  are  benefited 
by  the  wrongs  to  the  people,  of  which  Gen.  Butler 
complains,  find  their  selfish  interests  antagonized  by 
his  reformatory  propositions.  They  therefore  oppose 
any  and  every  movement  looking  to  his  election  to 
the  governorship.  In  1871  the  large  majority  of  the 
voters  of  that  party  desired  the  nomination  of  Gen. 
Butler  for  governor  of  the  State,  but  the  party  mana 
gers  defeated  him  in  the  convention  by  means  known 
only  to  party  managers.  Col.  Russell  H.  Conwell, 
in  an  address  before  the  Aurora  Club  of  Boston  in 


1 86  LIFE    OF   BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

1874,  in  speaking  of  this  matter,  said,  "Gen.  Butler 
saw  the  State-House  lobby  so  eager  for  office,  that 
the  governor's  chair  had  to  be  divided  and  sub 
divided,  and  given  to  'commissions,'  until  Massachu 
setts  had  twenty-four  governors  instead  of  one,  and 
as  many  politicians  had  fat  places.  He  saw  they 
were  powerful.  At  the  risk  of  his  nomination  he 
fought  them.  He  saw  the  newspapers  aiding  in  the 
work  of  taxing  the  people  more  than  ought  in  justice 
to  be.  He  needed  their  influence  if  office  was  all  he 
wanted,  but  he  fought  them  with  unsparing  hand. 
He  had  rather  fight  monopolies,  corrupt  office-seek 
ers,  and  newspapers  which  could  be  bought  with 
money,  than  be  governor  of  the  Commonwealth." 
In  1876  Gen.  Butler  was  nominated  for  Congress  by 
the  Republicans  of  the  Fourth  District.  The  party 
managers  and  the  newspapers  opposed  his  nomina 
tion  by  all  means  in  their  power,  fair  and  foul ;  but 
the  people  were  too  strong  for  the  rings,  and  their 
organs. 

Having  failed  to  defeat  his  nomination,  they  re 
solved  to  prevent  his  election.  The  plan  adopted 
was  to  put  Judge  E.  R.  Hoar  in  opposition  to  him, 
with  a  view  to  divide  the  Republican  vote,  and  give 
the  election  to  the  Democratic  candidate,  Mr.  Tarbox. 
This  scheme  also  failed :  Gen.  Butler  was  triumph 
antly  elected  to  the  Forty-fifth  Congress  by  the  peo 
ple,  over  the  opposition  of  both  the  Democratic  and 
Republican  parties.  He  has  faithfully  represented 
his  constituents,  the  people,  without  regard  to  the 
wishes  of  the  politicians. 


HIS    CAMPAIGN    FOR   GOVERNOR   IN    1878.          l8/ 

That  campaign  of  1876  marks  an  era  in  the  his 
tory  of  Massachusetts  politics.  The  nomination  of 
Gen.  Butler  was  a  declaration  by  the  people  of  in 
dependence  of  ring-rule.  The  campaign  which  en 
sued  was  a  war  of  rebellion  against  party  despotism  ; 
and  his  election,  a  triumph  for  the  principles  of  popu 
lar  sovereignty  in  the  Fourth  District. 

In  the  summer  of  1878,  the  people  of  the  State, 
to  the  number  of  51,700,  signed  a  petition  headed  by 
Wendell  Phillips,  to  Gen.  Butler,  asking  him  to  be 
come  an  independent  candidate  for  governor  of  the 
State,  on  the  issue  of  "  State  reform."  These  peti 
tioners  were  from  all  parties,  Republican,  Demo 
cratic,  and  National,  who,  without  regard  to  previous 
condition  of  party  servitude,  joined  in  a  movement  to 
emancipate  the  tax-payers  from  the  despotic,  extrava 
gant  and  corrupt  rule  of  the  partisan  leeches  who  had 
fastened  themselves  upon  the  public  treasury. 

Gen.  Butler  accepted  this  popular  nomination,  in 
a  letter  of  great  ability,  but  in  which  he  confined 
himself  to  the  discussion  of  "  State  issues." 

His  nomination  was  indorsed  by  the  Nationals ; 
and  the  Democratic  party  leaders,  on  assembling  in 
State  convention  at  Worcester,  found  that  a  large 
majority  of  the  delegates  coming  fresh  from  the 
people  were  in  favor  of  also  indorsing  the  nomina 
tion  of  the  champion  of  reform,  Gen.  Butler.  These 
leaders  protested ;  but  finding  themselves  unable  to 
control  the  convention,  they  seceded  from  it,  and  the 
general's  candidacy  was  unanimously  ratified.  The 
seceding  faction  met  some  days  later  in  Boston,  and 


1 88  LIFE   OF   BENJAMIN   F.  BUTLER. 

put  in  nomination  Judge  Abbott.  The  Republican 
party  nominated  Hon.  Thomas  Talbot ;  and  the  Pro 
hibitionists,  Rev.  Dr.  Miner.  All  knew  from  the 
first  that  either  Gen.  Butler  or  Mr.  Talbot  would  be 
elected.  The  Abbott  party  put  the  judge  in  the 
field  for  the  express  purpose  of  aiding  the  Republi 
can  nominee,  by  dividing  the  Democratic  vote.  The 
Prohibition  party,  doubtless,  acted  from  conscien 
tious  motives,  in  resolving  to  stand  up  and  be 
counted  as  radical  temperance  men  ;  but  it  is  proba 
ble  that  the  candidacy  of  Dr.  Miner  took  more  votes 
from  Butler  than  Talbot,  for  the  reason  that  the 
general  is  considered  much  more  sound  and  firm  on 
the  temperance  question  than  Mr.  Talbot.  This 
nomination  of  Gen.  Butler  for  governor  was  to  the 
whole  State,  what  his  nomination  for  Congress,  two 
years  before,  had  been  to  the  Fourth  District.  It 
was  a  popular  uprising  of  the  people  against  party 
dictation  and  ring-rule. 

The  managers  of  both  the  old  parties  understood 
this,  and  became  allies  at  once ;  and  they  fought  side 
by  side,  and  shoulder  to  shoulder,  throughout  the 
campaign. 

Knowing  their  weakness,  their  utter  inability  to 
meet  Gen.  Butler  on  the  true  issues  before  the  peo 
ple, —  State  reforms,  —  they  resolved  to  ignore  these, 
and  compel  a  discussion  of  the  great  national  ques 
tion  of  finance  instead.  They  knew  he  was  in  ad 
vance  of  the  public  sentiment  of  the  State  on  that 
question  ;  and  they  shrewdly  guessed  that  it  would 
be  impossible  for  him  to  educate  a  majority  of  the 


HIS    CAMPAIGN    FOR   GOVERNOR   IN    1878.          189 

voters,  and  thus  overcome  their  prejudices  in  favor 
of  hard  money,  in  one  campaign  of  a  few  weeks. 

Gent  Butler  opened  the  campaign  by  discussing 
the  State  reforms  ;  but  finding  the  opposition  speak 
ers  and  journals  persistent  in  their  determination 
to  ignore  these  issues,  and  confine  themselves  to 
the  basest  misrepresentations  of  his  views  of  na 
tional  finance,  and  the  vilest  personal  abuse  of  his 
private  character  and  public  record,  he  resolved  to 
discuss  the  currency  question  as  well  as  State  re 
form.  He  made  the  most  able  and  vigorous  canvass 
of  which  the  annals  of  American  politics  contain  a 
record.  He  delivered  about  one  hundred  speeches  to 
immense  audiences,  in  various  cities  and  villages  of 
the  State.  A  few  earnest,  well-informed  speakers 
supplemented  his  efforts  by  sound  and  vigorous 
speeches,  but  it  was  impossible  for  him,  and  his  vol 
unteer  friends  to  cover  the  whole  State,  or  reach  a 
majority  of  the  voters ;  but  wherever  they  were  heard 
the  people  were  profoundly  impressed  with  the  able 
arguments  presented  in  favor  of  a  reconstruction  of 
the  financial  system  of  the  country  in  the  interest  of 
the  enterprising  and  industrial  classes  of  the  nation. 

But  Democratic  and  Republican  hard-money  ora 
tors  literally  swarmed  over  the  land,  like  the  locusts 
and  frogs  of  Egypt.  Not  only  were  all  politicians 
of  Massachusetts  actively  engaged  in  slandering  and 
denouncing  Gen.  Butler's  currency  doctrines,  but 
Senator  Blaine,  Secretary  Schurz,  Congressman  Frye, 
Col.  Ingersoll,  and  a  host  of  less  luminous  lights,  were 
imported  from  other  States,  to  aid  in  diverting  the 


I9O  LIFE   OF    BENJAMIN    F.   BUTLER. 

attention  of  the  people  of  Massachusetts  from  the 
real  questions  before  them,  mystify  their  minds  on 
the  true  doctrines  of  finance,  and  thus  roll  back  the 
waves  of  revolution  and  reform  that  threatened  to 
ingulf  the  old  parties,  and  redeem  the  State. 

The  author  was  in  this  canvass :  hence  he  writes 
from  the  standpoint  of  personal  observation.  He 
does  not  hesitate  to  say  that  while  Gen.  Butler  and 
his  friends  conducted  the  campaign,  on  their  part,  in 
a  manner  worthy  American  citizens  and  statesmen, 
confining  themselves  to  honorable  discussion  of  vital 
questions ;  the  majority  of  the  opposition  speakers 
and  papers  resorted  to  every  species  of  political  jug 
glery  known  to  the  modern  demagogue.  Still  fear 
ing  defeat  at  the  hands  of  the  people's  champion,  the 
Republican  party,  through  its  executive  committee, 
issued  a  circular  letter  to  the  clergy  of  the  State, 
urging  them  to  come  to  the  rescue,  and  save  the 
party  from  defeat.  Quite  a  number  of  the  preachers 
responded  by  preaching  hard-money  sermons. 

To  the  old  party  leaders  and  their  friends,  defeat 
by  the  people's  candidate  seemed  such  a  terrible 
thing,  that  they  resolved  to  resort  to  the  method 
known  in  the  South  as  "bulldozing."  Massachusetts 
justly  claims  to  be  an  intelligent  and  cultured  State, 
hence  the  crude  methods  of  South  Carolina  were  out 
of  place  there ;  but  other  methods,  more  refined  but 
no  less  effective,  were  available. 

"The  Boston  Herald"  gave  the  anti-Butler  men 
the  "cue,"  in  the  following  editorial  which  appeared 
in  its  issue  of  Sept.  13,  1878:  — 


HIS   CAMPAIGN   FOR   GOVERNOR   IN    1878.          IQI 

"  There  will  probably  be  a  good  deal  of  *  bulldozing '  done 
in  Massachusetts  this  year,  of  a  civilized  type.  The  laborers 
employed  by  Gen.  Butler  in  his  various  enterprises  —  mills, 
quarries,  &c.  —  will  be  expected  to  vote  for  him,  or  give  up  their 
situations.  The  same  rule  will  hold  good  on  the  other  side. 
There  will  be  no  shotguns  or  threats.  Every  thing  will  be 
managed  with  decorum,  adorned  by  noble  sentiments.  But  the 
men  who  oppose  Butler  employ  three-fourths,  if  not  seven- 
eighths,  of  the  labor  of  the  State.  They  honestly  believe  that 
Butler's  election  would  injure  their  prosperity.  They  know 
that  idle  hands  are  waiting  to  do  their  work.  It  is  not  to  be 
expected  that  they  will  look  on  indifferently,  and  see  their  em 
ployees  vote  for  a  destructive  like  Butler.  Human  nature  is 
much  the  same  in  Massachusetts  and  Mississippi.  Only  meth 
ods  are  different.  Brains,  capital,  and  enterprise  will  tell  in  any 
community.  It  is  very  improper,  of  course,  to  intimidate 
voters,  but  THERE  is  A  WAY  OF  GIVING  ADVICE  THAT  is 


The  assumption  that  the  employees  of  those  man 
ufacturing  establishments,  in  which  Gen.  Butler  is  a 
stockholder,  would  be  required  to  vote  for  him,  was 
wholly  gratuitous,  and  merely  presented  for  the  pur 
pose  of  an  apology  for  the  infamous  suggestion  which 
followed.  Although  Gen.  Butler  is  a  patron  of  manufac 
turing  enterprises,  he  does  not  control  a  single  mill  in 
Lowell  or  anywhere  else ;  and,  if  he  did,  no  one  who 
knows  him  would  believe  him  capable  of  any  unfair 
attempt  to  influence  the  votes  of  his  employees. 

In  an  article  commenting  upon  the  above  para 
graph  from  "The  Boston  Herald,"  "The  New  York 
World"  says,  — 

"  That  paragraph  outlined  the  campaign  on  the  part  of  the 
Massachusetts  Republicans;  and  'advice 'of  this  *  quiet,  con~ 


I Q2  LIFE    OF   BENJAMIN    F.   BUTLER. 

vincing '  nature  was  freely  given  to  men  whose  daily  necessi 
ties  and  families  to  be  supported  would  not  allow  them  to  dis 
regard  it.  Following  this  declaration  a  call  was  issued  by 
Adin  Thayer,  Chairman  of  the  Republican  State  Committee,  to 
the  manufacturers,  inviting  them  to  a  secret  meeting  at  the 
Parker  House,  Boston,  to  discuss  the  subjects  connected  with 
the  approaching  election.  The  meeting  was  numerously 
attended ;  among  others,  George  F.  Hoar  being  present ;  and 
the  question  of  how  far  manufacturers  and  employers  could 
safely  go  in  influencing  the  votes  of  their  employees  was  con 
sidered  with  much  earnestness.  It  was  finally  decided,  with 
but  few  dissenters,  that  efforts  should  be  made  in  the  direction 
of  influencing  the  votes  of  workmen;  and  the  result  of  this 
action  was  made  very  manifest  on  election  day  in  the  manufac 
turing  towns  of  Eastern  Massachusetts.  A  few  of  the  men 
who  attended  this  meeting  at  the  Parker  House  were  disgusted 
with  the  spirit  of  polite  bulldozing  manifested,  and  turned  their 
backs  upon  the  whole  proceeding.  From  them  the  action  of 
the  mutiny  was  subsequently  ascertained.  This  was  the  begin 
ning,  and  the  plans  adopted  here  and  manifested  throughout  the 
campaign  are  believed  by  many  to  have  effected  Gen.  Butler's 
defeat.  The  usual  campaign  tricks  of  shaking  hands,  &c., 
were  neglected ;  and,  instead  of  winning  men's  votes  by  affected 
consideration  for  their  families,  they  were  terrorized  with  hints 
of  the  coming  winter  with  no  employment.  Then  a  circular, 
printed  cautiously  in  New  York,  was  sent  secretly  to  all  manu 
facturers  who  could  be  reached,  as  follows :  — 

"  DEAR  SIR,  —  Your  co-operation  with  the  Massachusetts  Republican  State 
Central  Committee  is  most  earnestly  requested.  It  is  in  your  power,  by  the 
authority  you  can  exercise  over  those  employed  by  you,  to  maintain  the  honor 
of  Massachusetts,  and  keep  it  out  of  the  hands  of  spoilers  and  political 
knaves  who  have  selected  Gen.  Butler  as  their  candidate.  His  election  would 
disgrace  our  State,  and  ruin  our  standing  at  home  and  abroad.  A  thorough 
canvass  of  those  you  employ,  and  an  early  report  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Repub 
lican  State  Central  Committee,  will  be  thankfully  received." 

That  anti-Butler  manufacturers,  merchants,  and 
bankers  compelled  their  employees  to  vote  for  Mr. 


HIS    CAMPAIGN    FOR    GOVERNOR   IN    1878.          193 

Talbot  on  pain  of  being  discharged,  in  numerous 
cases,  is  a  fact  well  known  to  many  persons  in  Mas 
sachusetts  ;  and  it  is  established  by  sworn  testimony 
now  in  possession  of  Senator  Thurman. 

In  the  light  of  the  facts  given  here,  the  election  of 
Mr.  Talbot  by  a  small  plurality  is  not  a  matter  for 
surprise.  On  the  contrary,  the  fact,  that,  under  all 
the  circumstances,  Gen.  Butler  received  the  largest 
number  of  votes  (110,000)  ever  cast  in  the  State 
for  a  defeated  candidate,  proves  the  power  and  estab 
lishes  the  popularity  of  the  man. 

Victory  often  follows  fast  upon  the  heels  of  defeat 
when  the  cause  one  fights  for  is  just.  Such  is  sure 
to  be  the  result  in  this  case,  if  Gen.  Butler  will  permit 
his  friends  to  vote  for  him  for  the  office  of  governor 
this  year,  1879. 


194  LIpE   OF    BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 


CHAPTER   XX. 

CONCLUSION. 


T 


AMES  PARTON  says  of  Gen.  Butler:  — 


•s  "  He  is  a  great  achiever.  He  is  a  victorious  kind  of  man. 
He  is  that  combination  of  qualities  and  powers  which  is  most 
potent  in  bringing  things  to  pass.  He  is  endowed  with  a  large, 
healthy,  active,  educated  brain. 

"He  has  courage.  He  dares  to  take  responsibility.  He 
dares  to  incur  obloquy.  He  dares  to  tell  the  truth. 

"  He  is  honest.  With  opportunities  such  as  no  other  man 
has  had  since  the  days  of  Warren  Hastings,  his  hands  are 
spotless. 

"  He  could  have  made  a  half-million  by  a  wink ;  and,  if  he 
had  done  so,  he  could  have  come  home  with  a  marked  reputa 
tion  for  integrity ;  because  then  he  would  have  had  an  interest 
to  create  such  a  reputation,  and  could  not  have  indulged  the 
noble  carelessness  with  regard  to  his  good  name  which  is  the 
privilege  of  a  man  strong  in  conscious  rectitude. 

"  He  is  humorous.  The  pointed  humor  and  vivacity  of  Gen. 
Butler's  utterances  are  an  element  of  his  success. 

"He  is  a  man  of  faith.  He  never  doubts  that  the  right 
will  triumph. 

"  He  is  humane.  He  was  always  kindly  considerate  of  the 
men  in  his  command.  He  was  lenient  toward  offences  result 
ing  from  the  weakness  of  human  nature.  He  is  generous  to 
the  poor.  He  sympathized  with  the  anxiety  of  parents  who 


CONCLUSION.  195 

had  sons  in  the  army.  He  is  courteous,  not  to  officers  and 
prominent  persons  only,  but  to  private  soldiers,  and  even  the 
beggar  on  the  street." 

Col.  Russell  H.  Conwell,  in  an  address  before 
the  Aurora  Club  of  Boston,  says  of  him  :  — 

"Fellow-citizens,  I  have  not  attempted  to  do  more  in  this 
superficial  review  than  to  suggest  a  few  thoughts  to  lead  you  in 
your  discussion.  But  the  search  which  I  have  made  among 
public  documents  has  been  of  service  to  me  in  explaining  many 
things  which  seemed  dark,  and  in  convincing  me  that  Gen.  But 
ler  has  greater  executive  ability,  is  a  braver  patriot,  a  wiser 
statesman,  and  a  truer  friend,  than  many  of  us  have  believed. 
I  am  greatly  surprised  that,  notwithstanding  the  storm  of  accu 
sation  and  the  thousands  of  insinuations  which  almost  over 
whelm  us  when  we  begin  an  investigation  of  his  public  life,  — 
that  out  of  it  all  there  should  stand  confirmed  or  proven  not 
one  of  all  these  derogatory  assertions.  That  one  should  suffer 
himself  to  be  so  slandered  and  misrepresented  without  more  fre 
quent  replies,  is  so  strange  as  to  be  equalled  only  by  the  estab 
lished  fact  that  the  newspapers  publish  falsehoods  about  him 
nearly  every  day,  and  the  people  believe  them  as  often,  which 
have  not  the  slightest  foundation  in  fact  or  probability.  He  is 
a  great  man  ;  but  a  whole  army  of  men  as  able  as  he,  could  not 
accomplish  one-half  the  evils  which  rival  politicians  and  their 
newspapers  have  laid  to  his  charge.  It  is  a  good  thing  for  us 
to  look  into  these  matters,  —  not  in  this  case  only,  but  in  all 
others  like  it,  —  that  we  may  hereafter  know  whereof  we  speak, 
and  be  able  to  vote  intelligently  and  without  bias  in  matters  of 
public  policy. 

"  Let  me  then,  candidly  and  fairly,  state  to  you  my  conclu 
sions  regarding  Gen.  Butler,  with  the  same  freedom  with  which 
I  intend  to  speak  of  other  public  and  representative  men  of 
our  Commonwealth. 

"He  is  a  keen,  disciplined  lawyer,  a  shrewd  observer  of 
men.  He  never  forgets  his  friends  or  his  enemies.  His  bat- 


196  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

ties  for  himself  have  sometimes  flagged :  yet,  when  he  entered 
the  lists  as  a  champion  for  his  friends,  he  was  never  known  to 
yield.  In  behalf  of  his  friends  he  refuses  no  weapon  placed 
within  his  reach,  except  such  as  would  dishonor  his  cause. 
Unselfish  in  the  extreme  while  his  armor  is  on,  he  hesitates  at 
no  risk,  falters  not  at  any  sacrifice.  Be  his  enemies  or  the  ene 
mies  of  his  friends  who  they  may,  —  president,  senators,  kings, 
parliaments,  legislatures,  armies,  his  own  party,  the  newspapers, 
or  even  the  churches,  —  no  matter,  his  foes  must  succumb. 
His  wars  are  always  on  the  offensive,  and  seldom  partake  of 
the  defensive.  The  party  or  the  man  must  be  saintly  as  an 
angel,  strong  as  Hercules,  and  as  firmly  set  as  the  Rock  of  Gib 
raltar,  to  escape  the  pen  or  the  hand  of  the  artillery  of  his  pro 
lific  and  wonderful  genius. 

"  As  I  declared  in  the  beginning,  warfare  of  some  kind  is  his 
natural  element.  That  passion  has  made  him  a  great  man.  That 
spirit,  guided  by  a  powerful,  steady  brain,  has  given  him  the  lore- 
most  places  among  the  statesmen  of  this  nation  and  of  the  world. 
That  desire,  coupled  with  a  heart  that  beats  warmly  for  his  com 
rades,  has  led  him  to  combat  the  whole  congressional  delegation 
of  his  State,  when  by  sacrificing  a  friend  to  their  demand  he 
could  himself  have  ridden  triumphant  into  public  favor.  That 
momentum,  with  a  desire  to  see  fair  play,  led  him  to  risk  all  his 
own  chances  for  political  preferment  in  the  cause  of  his  much- 
slandered  associates.  That  fearless,  chivalric  heroism  leads 
him  at  all  times  to  listen  to  the  millions  of  applications  for 
assistance,  coming  from  the  lowly,  to  answer  which,  and  to  help 
whom,  requires  hundreds  of  letters  every  day,  and  a  great  share 
of  his  valuable  time.  That  love  of  conflict,  and  the  excite 
ment  of  combat,  made  him  the  greatest  criminal  lawyer  of  the 
United  States,  and  naturally  led  him  to  the  bar  as  the  defender 
of  those  who,  while  under  accusation,  no  matter  whether  guilty 
or  not,  had  at  the  time  no  friend  but  him.  Lastly,  that  knightly 
inborn  desire  to  fight  for  those  who  looked  upon  him  for  pro 
tection  has  compelled  him  to  provide  beautiful  homes  for  his 
family,  and  to  make  provision  for  companions  less  fortunate 
than  he,  because  less  hardy  and  valiant. 


CONCLUSION.  197 

"  Ah !  my  friends,  I  am  sure  that  none  of  you  will  accuse  me 
of  partisan  or  illiberal  spirit  when  I  say,  after  mature  delibera 
tion,  that,  when  Gen.  Butler  goes  to  his  grave,  there  will  be 
more  genuine  grief  in  this  land  than  there  has  been  for  the  death 
of  any  statesman  since  the  assassination  of  Lincoln  !  Ask  the 
negroes,  who  first  saw  the  star  of  freedom  through  the  flashes 
of  his  sword,  who  received  the  first  fire-arms  from  him,  and  a 
brigade  of  whom  were  the  first  troops  to  enter  Richmond !  Ask 
the  widows  who  would  have  had  no  bounty !  Ask  the  crippled 
soldiers  and  penniless  orphans  he  piloted  to  clerkships  !  Ask 
the  unfortunate,  ignorant  criminals,  who  would  never  have  been 
law-breakers  had  they  known  friends  like  him !  Ask  the  mer 
chants  of  this  city,  whose  homes  would  have  passed  under  the 
hammer  but  for  his  earnest  and  freely-given  aid  !  Ask  the  dis 
tinguished  members  of  the  Judiciary  Committee,  the  chairman 
ship  of  which  it  is  an  honor  for  Massachusetts  to  hold !  Ask 
our  old  Commonwealth,  who  was  first  and  foremost  in  the  war 
because  he  offered  himself  and  his  all  for  her  good  name  when 
he  stood  all  alone  !  Ask  the  nation,  for  whose  flag  many  traitors 
suffered  under  his  iron  hand,  and  for  whose  glory  and  prosperity 
he  has  ever  fought  with  unabated  zeal  against  rebels  in  the  field, 
traitors  in  Congress,  apathy  in  the  Senate,  threats  from  arrogant 
foreign  nations,  and  the  machinations  of  sneaking,  dangerous 
foes  in  countless  other  forms  ! 

"  When  thai:  time  comes,  sir,  will  not  some  of  us  regret,  — 
yea,  I  may  say  repent,  —  for  our  supineness  in  permitting  so 
able  a  statesman,  and  so  noted  a  friend  of  the  poor  and  the 
weak,  to  live  without  our  plaudits  and  encouragement,  and  fight 
on  in  our  battles  alone  ?  " 

In  a  letter  to  "The  Boston  Globe,"  giving  his 
reasons  why  he  should  vote  for  Gen.  Butler  for  gov 
ernor,  Wendell  Phillips  said,  — 

"  My  friend  Mr.  Elaine  wonders  that  I  and  the  South  should 
join  in  this  movement,  —  currency  reform.  Let  me  tell  him, 
such  movements  as  this  are  not  of  men.  Such  questions  ripen 


198  LIFE   OF   BENJAMIN    F.   BUTLER. 

of  themselves.  It  was  inevitable,  that,  after  emancipation,  this 
politic-economical  issue  should  present  itself.  He  must  not 
think  the  bankruptcy  of  this  class,  the  ambition  of  that  man, 
the  cunning  of  a  party,  or  the  theories  of  a  clique,  lifted  this 
question  to  the  surface.  As  the  French  courtier  said  to  Louis 
XVI.,  '  Sire,  this  is  not  a  riot,  it  is  a  revolution,'  so  I  say 
to  Schurz,  Elaine,  and  Sherman  :  This  is  no  rotten  party  falling 
to  pieces,  no  discontented  class  clamoring  in  the  dark ;  this  is  a 
step  in  the  ages,  a  revolution  deeper  than  that  which  was  sealed 
at  Appomattox.  It  began  when  Congress  declared  all  men 
equal :  it  will  never  end  till  it  is  settled  that  the  people  are  the 
source  of  all  power,  and  safely  to  be  trusted  with  its  exercise 
over  every  interest,  and  in  every  direction.  On  one  side  of  the 
question  stand  the  tory  and  the  coward ;  those  who  hate  the 
people,  and  those  who  honestly  doubt  their  capacity  and  discre 
tion.  On  the  other  side  we  see  the  men  who  still  believe  in 
the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  are  willing  and  resolved 
that  this  shall  be,  as  Lincoln  said,  — '  a  government  of  the  peo 
ple,  for  the  people,  and  by  the  people.' 

"  I  vote  for  Gen.  Butler  because  he  represents  this  move 
ment.  Ten  years  ago  he  had  the  sagacity  to  anticipate  its  ap 
pearance,  and  the  patriotism,  courage,  and  magnanimity,  to 
range  himself  on  its  side.  To-day  he  is  the  only  prominent 
political  servant  of  the  Commonwealth  who  accepts  it,  and 
throws  his  influence  in  its  support. 

"  Men  say  his  advocacy  of  it  is  only  selfish  ambition,  seeking 
to  use  a  popular  cry  for  his  own  advancement.  Ten  years  ago, 
when  he  first  gave  it  his  support,  it  had  nothing  to  offer.  The 
Democratic  party,  which  had  held  up  Jackson's  hands  in  the 
same  battle  with  banks  and  money-kings,  had  forgotten  its  own 
record.  The  Republican  party,  contented  with  the  flesh-pots 
of  Egypt,  frowned  on  any  attempt  to  curb  the  power  of  capital. 
When  Butler  committed  himself  to  the  plan  of  a  national  cur 
rency,  he  seemed  to  cut  himself  off  from  all  support ;  and  most 
men  well  remember  the  universal  ridicule  or  howl  with  which 
his  speech  was  received.  To-day,  when  this  reform  is  about  to 
seize  the  helm,  he  is  its  rightful  representative  and  leader,  who, 


CONCLUSION.  199 

of  all  living  statesmen,  has  done  the  most  to  honor  the  Com 
monwealth  by  brilliant  and  efficient  service  in  different  ca 
pacities. 

"  Who  of  our  volunteer  commanders  in  the  war  ranks  any 
where  near  him?  His  friends  have  but  to  name  Annapolis, 
Baltimore,  New  Orleans,  and  the  '  contraband,'  in  order  to  put 
him  in  the  front  rank,  if  not  at  the  very  head,  of  all  volunteer 
commanders. 

"  But  one  service  which  he  rendered  the  nation  in  1861  out 
does,  in  the  view  history  will  take,  even  all  his  subsequent  well 
doing.  In  1861,  all  will  remember,  there  was  an  hour  when  it 
hung  doubtful  whether  the  impending  war  was  to  be  a  war  of 
parties,  —  Democrat  against  Republican  in  each  State,  —  or 
whether  it  would  be  the  nation  putting  down  a  rebellion.  But 
ler,  Dix,  and  a  score  of  such  Democrats,  by  accepting  com 
missions,  and  flinging  their  fortunes  in  with  the  flag,  settled 
that  doubt,  and  saved  the  Union.  Let  no  man  rashly  criticise 
Ihe  patriots  who  in  that  dread  hour  made  the  scale  of  the  rebel 
kick  the  beam. 

"  In  Congress  no  injustice  will  be  done  his  Massachusetts 
associates,  and  no  claim  will  be  made  for  Butler  that  any  man 
familiar  with  Washington  will  dispute,  if  one  says  of  him  as 
Lord  Clarendon  says  of  Sir  Harry  Vane,  *  Sir  Harry  Vane  was 
one  of  the  Commissioners,  and  therefore  the  others  need  not  be 
named,  since  he  was  all  in  any  business  where  others  were 
joined  with  him? 

"In  spite  of  all  that  is  alleged  against  him,  I  dare  affirm  that 
he  is,  in  private  life  and  in  his  great  offices,  as  upright  and 
honorable  as  any  public  servant  of  the  State. 

"  The  political  issue  which  seems  ripest  to-day  for  settlement 
is  finance.  The  man  who  prophesied,  and  has  done  as  much  as 
any  other  to  create,  this  state  of  affairs,  is  Gen.  Butler. 

"  The  man  who  has  shown  the  largest  capacity  to  rouse  the 
spirit  of  the  State,  and  concentrate  its  strength  for  any  needed 
purpose,  is  Gen.  Butler. 

"  The  man  who,  watched  by  the  lynx-eyed  malice  of  a  hun 
dred  journals,  and  never  shrinking  from  responsibility  in  great 


2OO  LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    F.    BUTLER. 

crises,  stands  yet  as  fair  in  his  record  as  any  of  his  rivals,  and 
far  more  consistent,  is  Gen.  Butler. 

"  The  man  who  seems  fittest  to  lead  the  people  in  their  effort 
to  break  the  yoke  to  which  Congress  has  submitted,  and  which 
capital  now  seeks  to  fasten  on  the  nation  itself,  is  Gen.  Butler. 

"  I  shall  vote  to  make  him  governor  of  Massachusetts.  His 
success  will  be  the  people's  triumph." 

Hon.  Thaddeus  Stevens,  in  a  speech  in  Congress 
in  1865,  said  of  him  :  — 

"  His  patriotism,  his  talents,  his  acquirements,  will  hold  him 
aloft  amid  the  attacks  of  all  his  enemies.  He  has  rendered  ser 
vices  and  shown  patriotic  intention  which  will  make  him  beloved 
throughout  all  this  country ;  and  I  venture  the  declaration  this 
day,  that  if  the  question  could  be  put  to  the  loyal  people,  whom 
they  would  prefer  for  the  next  president,  a  majority  of  them 
would  vote  for  Gen.  Butler." 

The  men  whose  opinions  are  quoted  here  are  not 
only  well  known  to  the  American  people,  but  they 
are  universally  recognized  as  exceptionally  sincere 
and  reliable.  They  are  not  politicians.  They  regard 
Gen.  Butler  from  the  standpoints  of  the  critic,  the 
historian,  the  reformer. 

The  public  records  of  the  country  furnish  abun 
dant  proof,  however,  that  the  military  and  civil  career 
of  Gen.  Butler  is  fully  vindicated  and  amply  in 
dorsed  by  the  leading  statesmen  and  generals  of  this 
country.  The  Legislature  of  Ohio  unanimously 
adopted  the  following  resolution  :  — 

"Resolved,  That  Major-Gen.  Butler,  by  reason  of  his  dis 
tinguished  services  to  his  country  during  the  present  rebellion, 
Is  entitled  to  the  most  grateful  acknowledgment  and  thanks  of 
the  loyal  people  of  the  country." 


CONCLUSION.  2OI 

The  Legislature  of  Massachusetts 

"  Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  the  House  are  truly  tendered 
to  Major-Gen.  Benjamin  F.  Butler  for  the  energy,  ability,  and 
success  of  his  administration  of  the  Department  of  the  Gulf." 

The  following  was  unanimously  adopted  by  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States  :  — 

"Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  this  House  are  hereby  ten 
dered  to  Major-Gen.  Benjamin  F.  Butler,  for  the  energetic, 
able,  and  humane  administration  during  his  command  of  the 
Department  of  the  Gulf." 

The  brief  but  pointed  resolutions  quoted  have 
been  selected  from  an  abundant  stock  of  similar 
documents  in  possession  of  the  author,  all  show 
ing  the  high  appreciation  of  the  public  services  of 
Gen.  Butler  to  the  country.  Benjamin  F.  Butler  is  a 
man  of  great  and  positive  character.  He  leaves  the 
impress  of  his  mind  upon  whatever  he  does.  He 
re-organizes  public  opinion.  He  establishes  prece 
dents.  He  is  a  factor  in  human  progress.  He 
makes  history.  He  is  one  of  the  colflssal  figures  of 
this  age,  which  is  destined  to  stand  out  in  bold  relief, 
while  the  annals  of  America  shall  have  a  place  in  the 
memory  of  the  race. 

He  is  essentially  an  American.  He  belongs  to 
the  people.  His  fame  rests  solely  upon  the  solid 
basis  of  personal  merit  as  exhibited  in  grand  achieve 
ments,  and  it  reflects  credit  upon  the  institutions  of 
the  land  of  his  birth. 

His  fame  is  world-wide.  His  words  and  his  ac 
tions  are  discussed  in  every  civilized  country  on  the 


2O2  LIFE   OF   BENJAMIN   F.  BUTLER. 

globe.  He  is  feared  and  hated  among  the  aristoc 
racies  of  Great  Britain,  of  the  Continent,  and  of 
Western  Asia,  as  well  as  of  America.  He  is  hon 
ored  and  revered  by  the  liberty-loving  people  of  all 
classes  throughout  the  world. 

This  because  he  is  ever  the  foremost  champion  of 
the  oppressed.  He  fights  on  the  side  of  justice,  and 
under  the  banners  of  liberty  and  equality. 


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ABROAD  AGAIN; 

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in  electricity,  then  of  magnetism,  then  of  those  in  the  study  of  sound  —  pitch,  velocity, 
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THE  ART  OF  PROJECTING. 

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"  This  book  supplies  a  place  no  former  treatise  has  filled.  For  several  years  we 
have  made  frequent  use  of  the  oxyhydrogen  light  and  porte-lumiere  for  class-room 
illustration,  but  we  find  here  many  things  we  had  never  thought  of  before.  The  book 
abounds  in  descriptions  of  practical  and  easily  tried  experiments,  any  ingenious  teacher 
can  easily  try  with  little  expense.  It  is  not  an  addition  to  the  existing  number  of 
scientific  treatises,  but  an  exceedingly  useful  help  to  all,  alike  valuable  for  the  beginner 
and  college  professor."  —  National  Teachers'  Monthly. 

PRIMER   OF   DESIGN. 

By  CHARLES  A.  BARRY,  late  Supervisor  of  Drawing,  Boston  Public  Schools.  75 
illustrations.  Net,  75  cents.  By  mail,  90  cents. 

"  The  primary  aim  of  this  beautifully  illustrated  primer  is  to  give  aid  to  drawing- 
teachers.  The  principles  are  illustrated  in  a  way  to  make  them  intelligible  and  useful 
to  every  one  teaching  design." — New-England  yournal  of  Education. 

"  Mr.  Barry  is  an  artist  of  eminent  ability,  excelling  especially  as  a  draughtsman; 
and  his  experience  as  a  teacher  is  made  available  in  presenting  with  force,  precision, 
and  clearness,  the  principles  and  laws  which  he  undertakes  to  inculcate.  As  a  text 
book  it  will  prove  very  serviceable,  and  we  should  be  very  glad  to  see  its  value  recog 
nized  in  our  public  schools."  —  Epitome  of  Literature,  Philadelphia. 

ELEMENTS   OF  DESIGN. 

For  the  use  of  Teachers  and  Parents.  By  Dr.  WILLIAM  RIMMER,  Boston  Art  School 
(Museum  of  Fine  Arts).  48  full-page  illustrations.  Cloth.  Net,  $2.00.  By 
mail,  $2.25. 

Dr.  Rimmer's  manual  exemplifies  a  method  of  teaching  drawing  founded  on  the  idea 
that  it  does  not  signify  merely  an  imitation  of  forms,  but  that  it  aims  mainly  to  repro 
duce  expression.  It  is  a  bold  and  attractive  Drawing-Guide,  which,  taking  the  human 
form  as  a  model,  gradually  unfolds  from  the  simplest  lines  to  the  full  anatomical  sub 
ject,  the  elements  of  figure-drawing,  in  all  therr  variety  of  limb,  feature,  muscle,  and 
form,  rendering  easy  of  comprehension  every  intervening  step.  It  is  a  work  invalua 
ble  to  the  student  and  the  artist. 


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pected  from  the  gray,  one-armed  warrior,  who  commanded  an  army  corps  at  Chancel- 
lorsville,  Gettysburg,  and  under  Sherman  before  Atlanta,  a  story  of  American  country 
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existed  a  solitary  individual  from  Maine  to  the  Gulf,  or  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific, 
ignorant  of  '  Ike's '  existence,  we  might  feel  inclined  to  say  something  in  behalf  of  this 
book.  With  a  world-wide  fame,  however,  it  is  needless.  His  name  is  the  synonyme 
for  fun,  the  world  over;  and  to  say  that  a  reading  of  his  book  is  the  best  remedy  for 
general  debility  known,  must  be  a  sufficient  indorsement  to  give  it  an  immense  sale."— 
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tive  to  the  young.  Mr.  Towle  has  succeeded  in  striking  the  happy  medium  between 
dry  details  and  romantic  exuberance  in  his  '  Pizarro.'  His  story  opens  with  a  graphic 
picture  of  the  young  Pizarro's  boy  life;  and  the  author  carries  the  reader  on,  step  by 
step,  with  the  career  of  the  adventurous  youth,  until  the  conquest  of  Peru  ib  com 
pleted." —  New-Haven  Register, 

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and  that  he  discovered  the  way  to  India  around  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  His  life  was 
brimful  of  adventure,  and  the  book  will  be  of  great  interest  to  the  young  for  whom  it 
is  especially  prepared,  yet  not  the  less  interesting  to  older  people  who  love  history, 
and  the  deeds  of  brave  men  when  the  earth  was  much  younger  than  at  present.  It  is 
illustrated  and  well  printed." —  Taunton  Gazette. 


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I 


LEE  &  SHEPARD'S   NEW   BOOKS. 


A    GREAT  NATIONAL    WORK! 


THE 

COIMIIPIIIETIE 


CHARLES    SUMNER, 

To  be  completed  in  15  volumes.     (The  twelfth  volume  just  ready,  the  thirteenth 

in  press.)     Elegant  crown  8vo  volumes  with  portrait, 

notes,  and  index. 

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Price  per  volume,  Half  Calf,  Gilt  Extra,  Library  Edition     ....    $5.00 


SOLD    BY    SUBSCRIPTION. 


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Lee  and  Shepard  are  publishing  is  now  ready,  and  is  being  distributed  to  the  subscrib 
ers.  It  is  a  volume  of  more  than  common  interest.  It  contains  the  monograph  entitled 
'Prophetic  Voices  concerning  America,'  hitherto  published  separately;  /Are  we  a 
Nation  ?'  the  thoughtful  and  important  address  delivered  at  the  Cooper  Institute  in  New 
York  in  1868;  a  half-dozen  speeches  concerning  the  impeachment  of  Andrew  Johnson, 
delivered  in  the  Senate  Chamber;  an  address  on  '  Financial  Reconstruction  through 
Public  Faith  and  Specie  Payments,' — a  subject  of  quite  as  vital  interest  now  as  when 
delivered;  and  an  address  on  the  issues  of  the  Presidential  Election  of  1868,  which  was 
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nearly  five  hundred  and  fifty  pages.  Two  more  volumes  will  complete  the  publica 
tion. —  Boston  Journal. 

The  original  prospectus  was  issued  when  the  distinguished  orator  and  statesman 
was  in  the  midst  of  his  honorable  career,  and  had  apparently  before  him  all  the  even 
ing  of  his  life,  for  the  revision  of  his  orations,  speeches,  and  addresses.  Notwith 
standing  his  impaired  health,  he  had  labored  with  assiduity  to  arrange  and  perfect 
them;  and  before  his  death  nine  volumes  had  been  published,  and  the  tenth  was  given 
to  the  printers.  Materials  for  three  more  volumes,  carefully  prepared  by  himself,  are 
now  in  the  hands  of  friends  who  are  fully  acquainted  with  his  opinions,  and  familiar 
with  his  intellectual  methods. 


which  was  all  the  more  impressive  because  it  related  to  the  political  circumstances  in 
which  their  country  was  placed."  —  Edinburgh  Journal. 


LEE  &  SHEPARD,  Publishers,  Boston. 


A  NEW  SERIES  FOR  YOUNG  PEOPLE. 


HEROES  OF  HISTORY. 

BY  GEORGE  M.  TOWLE. 

The  aim  of  this  series  is  to  relate  the  discoveries,  adventures,  dangers 
and  triumphs  of  the  "  Hero  "  who  forms  the  subject  of  the  volume,  and 
to  attract  and  hold  the  attention  of  young  readers  from  beginning  to 
end  ;  giving  the  true  stories  of  those  famous  voyagers  and  discoverers, 
whose  names  are  not  unfamiliar  to  young  people,  but  whose  deeds  and 
adventures  are  not  so  well  known.  Thus,  while  the  young  reader  is 
intensely  absorbed  in  the  romantic  tale,  he  will  be  learning  important 
and  truthful  events  of  history.  Each  volume  complete  in  itself. 


VASOO   DA  GAMA: 

His  VOYAGES  AND  ADVENTURES.    By  GEORGE  M.  TOWLE.    i6mo, 

Illustrated.    $1.00. 

"  It  will  be  remembered  that  Da  Gama  was  in  his  day  more  famous  than  Columbus, 
and  that  he  discovered  the  way  to  India  around  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  His  life  was 
brimfull  of  adventure,  and  the  book  will  be  of  great  interest  to  the  young  for  whom  it 
is  especially  prepared,  yet  not  the  less  interesting  to  older  people  who  love  history,  and 
the  deeds  of  brave  men  when  the  earth  was  much  younger  than  at  present.  It  is 
illustrated  and  well  printed."—  Taunton  Gazette. 

3S-0-    2. 

PIZAEEO  : 

His   ADVENTURES   AND   CONQUESTS.      By   GEORGE   M.    J"OWLE, 
i6mo,  handsomely  illustrated.    $1.00. 

"  The  exciting  career  of  this  great  Spanish  captain  is  familiar  to  all  ;  but  previous 
authors  have  generally  failed  to  clothe  the  story  with  that  easy,  familiar  style  so  attrac 
tive  to  the  young.  Mr.  Towle  has  succeeded  in  striking  the  happy  medium  between 
dry  details  and  romantic  exuberance  in  his  '  Pizarro.'  His  story  opens  with  a  graphic 
picture  of  the  young  Pizarro's  boy  -life  ;  and  the  author  carries  the  reader  on  step  by 
step,  with  the  career  of  the  adventurous  youth,  until  the  conquest  of  Peru  is  com 
pleted."  —  New  Haven  Register. 

MAGELLAN: 

THE  FIRST  VOYAGER  AROUND  THE  WORLD.    Uniform  with  "  Vasco 

da  Gama"  and  "  Pizarro."    In  Press. 

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guardians  of  youth,  as  a  further  step  in  the  direction  of  combined  in 
struction  and  entertainment  so  successfully  inaugurated  by  the  pub 
lication  of  HIGGINSON'S  "  Young  Folks'  History  of  the  United  States," 
and  "  Young  Folks'  Book  of  American  Explorers." 

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IFOXiIKIS' 

HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

BY 

Thomas  Wentworth.  Higginson. 

Square  i6mo.    380  pp.    With  over  100  illustrations.  .    .  Price  $1.50. 

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be  made  interesting  to  old  and  young  by  being  presented  in  a  simple, 
clear  and  graphic  way.  In  this  book  only  such  names  and  dates  are 
introduced  as  are  necessary  to  secure  a  clear  and  definite  thread  of 
connected  incident  in  the  mind  of  the  reader  j  and  the  space  thus 
saved  is  devoted  to  illustrative  traits  and  incidents,  and  the  details  of 
daily  living.  By  this  means  it  is  believed  that  much  more  can  be  con 
veyed,  even  of  the  philosophy  of  history,  than  where  this  is  overlaid  and 
hidden  by  a  mass  of  mere  statistics. 

"  Compact,  clear  and  accurate.  .  .  This  unpretending  little  book  is  the  best  gen 
eral  history  of  the  United  States  we  have  seen." —  The  Nation. 

"  The  book  is  so  written,  that  every  child  old  enough  to  read  history  at  all  will 
understand  and  like  it,  and  persons  of  the  fullest  information  and  purest  taste  will  ad 
mire  it."  —  Boston  Daily  Advertiser. 

"  It  is  marvellous  to  note  how  happily  Mr.  Higginson,  in  securing  an  amazing  com 
pactness  by  his  condensation,  has  avoided  alike  superficiality  and  dullness."  —  Boston 
Transcript. 

As  A  TEXT-BOOK  IN  SCHOOLS. 

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entertaining.  I  know  no  book  more  helpful  in  promoting  that  crystallizing  process  in 
the  student's  own  mind,  by  which  the  accessories  and  details  group  themselves  around 
the  main  facts  and  ideas  of  the  narration.  On  this  account,  it  is  equally  valuable  to 
teachers  and  scholars,  to  the  examined  and  the  examiners." 

This  work  has  been  translated  into  German,  and  has  been  received  with  marked  favor. 
The  Leipsic  literary  correspondent  of  the  ' '  New  York  Staats-Zeitung  "  says  that,  in  its 
German  version,  it  is  pronounced  exceedingly  interesting  (hochst  anziehende} ,  and 
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readers. 

The  Berlin  " International  Gazette "  says,  "Mr.  Higginson  has  executed  his  task 
in  a  very  clear  and  lucid  manner,  not  making  use  of  any  hard  aphorisms,  so  puzzling 
to  the  young,  but  placing  himself  on  their  level,  and  explaining  every  thing  in  so  easy 
and  gentle  a  manner,  that  he  must  be  a  very  dull  or  a  very  perverse  scholar,  who  does 
not  find  his  attention  riveted." 


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FOURTEEN  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

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on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
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T6Iu!'56GB 


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(B139s22)476 


General  Library 

University  of  California 

Berkeley 


YB  37614 


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v    / 
THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


